Indra takes a new step in the evolution of its S3TSR space surveillance radar, one of the most advanced in the world

Start developing intermediate version V2-i

Indra is a leading global technological engineering company that has been working in the space sector for more than thirty years.

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The new version of this dual nature radar, property of the Spanish Ministry of Defense and part of the space surveillance and tracking system S3T, launched by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI), will incorporate transmission elements (TX) to quadruple the current capacity. In this way, it will strengthen our country's ability to protect satellites and space assets against possible unintentional threats, such as space debris, and intentional threats, such as satellites that approach with the intention of damaging, interfering with or spying on military space assets.

The project involves the completion of the civil works infrastructure of the radar site, implemented in the Morón Air Base, in Seville; the production of new transmission elements; the integration and testing of the complete V2-i system and the radar site acceptance test (SAT- Site Acceptance Test).

Thanks to its scalability, Indra's system will have the capacity to detect and characterize much smaller objects in orbit, covering the entire low orbit (Low Earth Orbit-LEO). 

Within the framework of the project, the means of civil works will also be incorporated that will allow it to increase its power even more in the future, up to even multiplying its original capacity by 16 when the latest planned version (V3) is completed.

“This project represents a first milestone in the planned roadmap of capacity expansion with which our space radar was born, which demonstrates its modularity and scalability. This roadmap opens the door to future expansions that include the incorporation of special modes, such as the detection and tracking of ballistic missiles, which will contribute to increasing Space Defense capabilities,” he explains. Cristina Vives, Director of Space at Indra.

 

The economy and the security and defense of countries increasingly depend on services provided from space, which makes satellites a strategic asset and clear objective in the event of conflict. Communications, air and sea transport, logistics and meteorological information depend on its proper functioning.

 

The radar S3TSR It is currently operated by the Spanish Air and Space Army from the Space Surveillance Operations Center (COVE), being the main sensor and contributing 24 hours a day, seven days a week with its data to the EU-consortium network. SST (European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking Partnership). 

Indra's radar was the first in Europe capable of detecting fragments of satellites destroyed in the Indian and Russian anti-satellite missile tests, Microsat-R and COSMOS 1408. It also monitors the trajectory of satellites determined by the operations center.

Space: a strategic sector

The economy and the security and defense of countries increasingly depend on services provided from space, which makes satellites a strategic asset and clear objective in the event of conflict. Communications, air and sea transport, logistics and meteorological information depend on its proper functioning.

Indra is a leading global technological engineering company that has been working in the space sector for more than thirty years. It has played a key role in the development of the main European space infrastructures, among which the Copernicus Earth observation system and the Galileo global geopositioning system stand out. It has also deployed the ground segment of the Spanish Paz Earth observation satellite and has launched, in collaboration with ENAIRE, a company linked to the new space, Startical, which is working on the development of a constellation of more than 200 small satellites that will provide air traffic management services throughout the planet.