U of A leads space domain awareness research with $8.6M from Space Force

The University of Arizona has secured a three-year, $8.6 million cooperative agreement with the U.S. Space Force to develop a high-resolution imaging system for space domain awareness (SDA). The project, titled the Strategic Space Technology Institute for Ultra-High-Resolution Imaging at Millimeter Wavelengths (SURe), will utilize a network of ground-based radio antennae to monitor and understand satellite activity. This advancement is critical for the Space Technology sector as it addresses increasing orbital congestion and the need for all-weather, day-and-night surveillance of assets in Earth's orbit.

The SURe project will leverage the "Arizona Array," a network of radio telescopes with diameters between 2 and 12 meters, to image satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO). By employing very long baseline interferometry, the team can create images with the spatial resolution of a single massive antenna by combining signals from multiple widely separated sensors. This technique, traditionally used to study distant astronomical phenomena like black holes, is being adapted with near-field correction and target illumination to provide detailed views of satellite orientations and surface features.

Christopher Walker, the project director and U of A astronomy professor, emphasized that the system provides transformative capabilities because it can operate in poor weather conditions and at any time of day, overcoming the limitations of traditional optical telescopes. This is increasingly vital as thousands of new satellites are expected to launch by 2030, raising the risk of collisions and national security threats. The research team will use proprietary software and analysis techniques developed at the university to reconstruct satellite images from the differences in radio waves detected at each antenna site.

Funded through the Space Strategic Technology Institute 4, the initiative represents a collaboration between the U.S. Space Force, academia, and industry. Partners include the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the University of Virginia, and private firms such as FreeFall Aerospace, Rincon Research Corp., DA2 Ventures, and Virginia Diodes. This agreement marks the first partnership between the university’s Steward Observatory and the Space Force, further cementing the University of Arizona's position as a leader in space science, an industry that generates over $560 million in annual economic impact for the state.