SPACE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM

The U. S. Navy Space Surveillance System consisting of two sensor complexes, one in the eastern portion and one in the western portion of the United States, and the Operations Center at Dahlgren, Virginia, continued 24- hour-per-day operation throughout the reporting period. The increase in number of satellites in orbit has produced a corresponding increase in number of observations. A total of 2080 passes on 24 different satellites were recorded during the past six months. Funds have been supplied to complete the automatic digital data processing, installation of an alert system at all receiving stations, and installation of a 500-kw transmitter in the center of the line. The 1600-foot receiving antennas at Fort Stewart have been evaluated and put into operation. Also, at Fort Stewart, the loss of passes as a result of using a single linear polarization has been evaluated. Indications are that of the total passes received on two orthogonal polarization, 25 percent are missed either of the single linear polarized systems. Comparison of signals received by reflection from meteor trails at frequencies of 432 and 108 mc indicates very few reflections at the higher frequency compared to those at 108 mc. Author