{"id":5923,"date":"2022-06-07T09:52:05","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T09:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raege-az.pt\/?page_id=5923"},"modified":"2025-07-28T14:50:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T14:50:59","slug":"sst","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/raege-az.pt\/en\/sst\/","title":{"rendered":"SST"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Space Surveillance and Tracking<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Increasingly, European economies, societies and citizens depend on space applications for communication, navigation and even earth observation. However, this need occupied the Earth's orbits with thousands of objects, including artificial satellites such as probes, and\/or infrastructure, some with military and governmental interest, and even debris, and due to the filling of the orbits, the risk of collision is getting bigger.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cThe European SST program aims for Europe to qualify in terms of monitoring and tracking capabilities of objects in near-Earth orbits.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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This is a project that assesses the risk of collisions in orbit and uncontrolled re-entry of space debris into the Earth's atmosphere, it is also from the SST project that fragments in orbit are detected and characterized. In order to mitigate these risks, it is important to research and track these objects, providing relevant information to interested entities. Thus, in 2014, the Space Surveillance Support Framework (SST) was established by the European Union, this decision resulted in the creation of an SST Consortium, currently composed of seven EU Member States, including Portugal.<\/p>

In Portugal, the operations center is located in the Azores Archipelago, on Terceira Island, and a sensor network is located on the island of Santa Maria, Madeira and in mainland Portugal. The installed sensors differ in their characteristics and objectives, there are two types of sensors: Tracking and Surveillance.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The tracking sensor tracks a given object according to the plan created while the Surveillance sensor focuses on a zone of sky and looks for objects to increase the catalogue.<\/strong><\/p>

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In Santa Maria, located at the RAEGE Station, an optical Tracking sensor is installed, aimed at the night-time operation of the planning, explained below by one of the SST operators, previously developed on Terceira Island.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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We are responsible for preparing plans for the four sensors of the Portuguese SST Network, which consists of organizing the various objects that we want to observe during the night, objects that are required by the European SST Consortium and also some of interest to the Ministry of National Defence.<\/strong><\/p>

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The operation of the SST sensor requires its preparation in advance, being necessary to proceed with the cooling of the chamber to reduce the noise generated by all the electronics of the equipment.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cBefore we start observing it is necessary to prepare the sensor and cool the camera down to -40\u00baC and only then can we start the observation\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

(Val\u00e9rio Pacheco, SOO Operator \u2013 RAEGE Santa Maria)<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ensuring the proper functioning of all equipment intended for the Portuguese SST Network in Santa Maria is also a task for operators, both in terms of information technology and sensor maintenance.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cIt is my responsibility to ensure the proper functioning, every day, of computers, software and SST equipment in Santa Maria\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Nuno Mata, SOO Operator \u2013 RAEGE Santa Maria)<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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These equipments are very sensitive and, for that reason, the operation can only be carried out when favorable atmospheric conditions are present for the use of the optical sensor. It is not possible to operate in strong winds, rain or cloudiness. The climate in the Azores is a challenge, so equipment maintenance has to be regular.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cIt is necessary to eliminate all that are points of humidity and everything that comes from humidity, namely, corrosion. Cleaning the lens is also essential for the proper functioning of our optical sensor here in Santa Maria, as we have very cold nights with a lot of humidity that can create condensation on the lens and condition the observation.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

(S\u00e9rgio Chaves, SOO Operator \u2013 RAEGE Santa Maria)<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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This tracking service, on the island of Santa Maria, is provided by the RAEGE-Az team, which is dedicated and specialized in the SST project, consisting of three elements, in night-time operation of the optical sensor.<\/p>

The SST project thus proves to be crucial for monitoring Earth orbits. This monitoring is essential for the preservation of the functioning of all the equipment that guarantees us access to what we now consider essential to our daily lives, such as communications, internet, navigation, and many other applications related to safety and well-being. of societies.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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