Barry Geldzahler, NASA, Rick Birr, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Robert Brown, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Kevin Grant, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Richard Hoblitzell, NASA Kennedy Space Center,
Michael Miller, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Gary Woods, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Arby Argueta, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Michael Ciminera, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Timothy Cornish, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dr. Larry D’Addario, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dr. Faramaz Davarian, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dr. Jonathan Kocz, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dennis Lee, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, David Morabito, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Philip Tsao, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Hali Jakeman-Flores, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Melanie N. Ott, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Jason Soloff, NASA Johnson Space Flight Center, Dr. Grant Denn, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Dr. Ken Church, Sciperio, Inc., Dr. Paul Deffenbaugh, Sciperio, Inc.,
Keywords: phased arrays, SSA, near Earth objects, high resolution radar
Abstract:
NASA is pursuing a demonstration of coherent uplink arraying at 7.145-7.190 GHz (X-band) and 30-31 GHz (Kaband) using three 12m diameter COTS antennas separated by 60m at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In addition, we have used up to three 34m antennas separated by ~250m at the Goldstone Deep Space Communication Complex in California at X-band 7.1 GHz incorporating real-time correction for tropospheric phase fluctuations. Such a demonstration can enable NASA to design and establish a high power, high resolution, 24/7 availability radar system for (a) tracking and characterizing observations of Near Earth Objects (NEOs), (b) tracking, characterizing and determining the statistics of small-scale (≤10cm) orbital debris, (c) incorporating the capability into its space communication and navigation tracking stations for emergency spacecraft commanding in the Ka band era which NASA is entering, and (d) fielding capabilities of interest to other US government agencies. We present herein the results of our phased array uplink combining at near 7.17 and 8.3 GHz using widely separated antennas demonstrations at both locales, the results of a study to upgrade from a communication to a radar system, and our vision for going forward in implementing a high performance, low lifecycle cost multi-element radar array.
Date of Conference: September 20-23, 2016
Track: Poster