Air Force to Spend $3.5B to Track Space Junk
At the moment, the Air Force is in what Spence called the “Phase A to preliminary design review” for the proposed Space Fence technologies. That phase will last another couple of months, after which either Raytheon or Lockheed Martin will win the contract, and ideally, the space fence will become operational within five years.
Once up and running, the system is designed to provide satellite operators, as well as the International Space Station, with a much larger “space catalog” of known debris, as well as real-time tracking on ten times the junk as is possible today. That additional information could make it possible for satellites or the space station to be moved safely out of the way of debris that would otherwise cause an impact and probable damage.
(via Raytheon, Lockheed lock horns for Space Fence contract | Cutting Edge - CNET News)
