Air Force Space Surveillance System

1960

From 1960 until the early 1990s the system was used in conjunction with a network of Baker-Nunn cameras that could see "an object the size of a basketball at ". The system was formerly operated by the U.S.

1961

Navy for NORAD from 1961 until October 2004.

1965

In 1965, the "Fence" system was modernized with the operating frequency doubled to 216.98 MHz (just above Channel 13 in the VHF TV broadcast band) to obtain higher resolution and to locate smaller objects.

1990

Fill-in transmitter sites at Gila River and Jordan Lake used offset frequencies listed above from the early 1990s to 2013 to help better detect which transmitter "illuminated" an object in space, as multiple transmitters could have illuminated the same object at the same time.

From 1960 until the early 1990s the system was used in conjunction with a network of Baker-Nunn cameras that could see "an object the size of a basketball at ". The system was formerly operated by the U.S.

1993

Initially independent as NAVSPASUR, it was ran by Naval Space Command from 1993, and finally by Naval Network and Space Operations Command from 2002 until command was passed to the U.S.

2002

Initially independent as NAVSPASUR, it was ran by Naval Space Command from 1993, and finally by Naval Network and Space Operations Command from 2002 until command was passed to the U.S.

2004

Navy for NORAD from 1961 until October 2004.

Air Force 20th Space Control Squadron on 1 October 2004. In 2009, the operations and maintenance contract for the day-to-day management and operation of the Fence was awarded to Five Rivers Services, LLC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

2009

Air Force 20th Space Control Squadron on 1 October 2004. In 2009, the operations and maintenance contract for the day-to-day management and operation of the Fence was awarded to Five Rivers Services, LLC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The shorter wavelength of the S-band Space Fence allows for detection of much smaller satellites and debris. The 10 February 2009, collision of a U.S.

2013

Navy was able to detect basketball sized () objects at heights up to . The system ceased operation in September 2013.

This frequency was used until the Fence was decommissioned in 2013.

Fill-in transmitter sites at Gila River and Jordan Lake used offset frequencies listed above from the early 1990s to 2013 to help better detect which transmitter "illuminated" an object in space, as multiple transmitters could have illuminated the same object at the same time.

budget sequestration in early 2013 and the AFSSS system was scheduled to be discontinued in October 2013 due to budget cuts. === 2013 Shutdown === On 1 August 2013, General William L.

Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, directed that the Air Force Space Surveillance System (AFSSS) be closed and all sites vacated effective 1 October 2013.

2020

The shutdown only affects the original Space Fence, not the new one contracted to be built by Lockheed Martin for deployment in Australia and the Marshall Islands. ==New space fence== A new space fence at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands was declared operational on March 27, 2020.




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