Australia begins trial of domestic space surveillance sensor
Australia's Director General Space Capability, Brigadier Hamish Ashman, and QSAT CEO Sean McCawley pictured with the SkyDome space surveillance sensor in South Australia. (Commonwealth of Australia)
The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) is testing a new domestically developed space surveillance sensor in South Australia.
The sensor, known as SkyDome, was developed by Sydney-based Quasar Satellite Technologies (QSAT), the DoD said on 23 July. The DoD added that SkyDome will undergo a year-long trial to monitor satellites and other objects in orbit.
SkyDome employs passive radio-frequency (RF) technology to conduct wide-area surveillance without transmitting signals. The underlying RF technology is based on research conducted by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the DoD said.
The trial will assess SkyDome's potential contribution to future space domain awareness (SDA) capabilities and its integration with existing systems. The evaluation will also examine how the sensor can support operational users in real-world missions while improving situational awareness across the air, land, and space domains.
Australia's Director General Space Capability, Brigadier Hamish Ashman, underscored the need for sensors such as SkyDome for maintaining accurate and timely awareness of orbital activity as space becomes increasingly contested and congested.
QSAT had not responded to Janes request for more information at the time of publication.
For more, please see: Australia's Space Surveillance Telescope attains final operational capability
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