LONDON, July 14 — The U.S. Space Surveillance Network is the quiet workhorse behind every satellite collision warning and every debris-tracking alert that crosses a space operator’s desk. Under the hood, it is a global mesh of radar dishes and optical telescopes, run by the U.S. Space Command, that keeps a running inventory of everything larger than 10 centimetres in low Earth orbit and everything larger than a metre in the more distant geosynchronous belt.
The network’s ground-based radars include the Space Fence, a new S-band system that became operational in 2020 on Kwajalein Atoll. For the deeper reaches of space, the network relies on optical telescopes — specifically the Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance system, or GEODSS, which operates sites in New Mexico, Hawaii, and Diego Garcia.
The technical reality is that debris in GEO is harder to detect because of the sheer distance involved; it demands larger telescopes.
Who watches the watchmen
The 18th Space Control Squadron, a unit within U.S. Space Command, is the entity that actually issues conjunction warnings to satellite operators. The European Space Agency’s Space Debris Office maintains its own catalog, and its Telescope for Orbit and Debris Characterization in Spain contributes data to the shared picture. A significant discovery in 2023 drew on data from both the SSN and the ESA catalog, though the exact nature of that find was not detailed in the available material.
The detail that matters is that the SSN is not a single system but a federation of sensors, each with its own strengths and blind spots. The Space Fence sees low orbits.
GEODSS sees the high orbits but only at night and only in clear skies. The combination is what makes the system work, but as ever, gaps remain.
The regulatory backdrop
The Federal Communications Commission in 2022 imposed a rule requiring satellite operators to dispose of their spacecraft within five years of the end of their mission. That rule is the closest thing the United States has to a binding debris-mitigation timeline, and it directly affects how operators plan their end-of-life manoeuvres. The SSN will be the system that watches to see whether those disposals actually happen.
What to watch next: the continued expansion of optical tracking networks and the question of whether commercial sensors will eventually supplement or replace the military-owned telescopes. For now, the SSN remains the primary source of orbital situational awareness, and the 18th Space Control Squadron remains the entity that picks up the phone when a conjunction alert goes out.
Sources
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