The system will also be able to monitor objects from 10-15 cm in size at altitudes from 2.5 thousand to 45 thousand km.
MOSCOW, January 20. /tass/. The new Russian Milky Way system will be able to track objects ranging in size from 5-7 cm, which are at an altitude of up to 2.5 thousand km above the Earth's surface. This was announced in an interview with TASS by the general designer of the Automated Warning System for Dangerous Situations in Near-Earth Space (ASPOS OKP) Grigory Stupak.
"The Milky Way, taking into account the development and creation of promising optoelectronic, radar facilities and the improvement of scientific and methodological apparatus, will make it possible to detect space objects of man-made origin in near-Earth space with a size of 5-7 cm or more at altitudes up to 2,500 km," Stupak said.
According to the general designer, the system will also be able to monitor objects from 10-15 cm in size at altitudes from 2.5 thousand to 45 thousand km, from 50 cm to 1 meter in size - at altitudes of more than 45 thousand km.
Now ASPOS OKP monitors 11 thousand space objects. "In the low-orbit area, technical capabilities are limited and provide only occasional acquisition of measurement information on a small number of spacecraft (space objects) ranging in size from 15-20 cm, which is due to the lack of radar monitoring facilities in its composition," Stupak explained.
The updated Russian automated warning system for dangerous situations in near-Earth outer space will be called the Milky Way. It will include 65 telescopes, as well as a space segment. As Roscosmos Executive Director for Advanced Programs and Science Alexander Bloshenko reported earlier in an interview with TASS, the space segment will include a grouping of specialized satellites for monitoring near-Earth space. The launch of the first of them is scheduled for the horizon of 2027.
