Mitre Develops Software to Improve Space Force Satellite Tracking Accuracy

Mitre has developed a software package designed to allow the U.S. Space Force to track satellites and space debris in near-real time.

The Space Systems Command is currently performing tests on the software package that Mitre delivered in July following two years of operational prototyping, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

Bob Carden, a senior systems analyst at Mitre, said the Sensor Network Autonomous Resilient Extensible software “improves positional awareness of objects in space.” The technology is intended to augment the Space Force’s existing satellite tracking system called SP Tasker.

During tests, SNARE showed it can improve the accuracy of space objects in the Space Force’s catalog by an average of 0.8 kilometers.

Over 10 percent of the catalog saw its accuracy improve by more than 3 kilometers, according to a technical Mitre paper co-authored by Carden.

SNARE also reduces the time it takes for SP Tasker to find an object again after it moves. The technology improves the reliability of the approximately 30 radars and sensors that make up the military’s Space Surveillance Network.

Carden told Breaking Defense that SNARE enables three critical capabilities for space situational awareness: autonomous sensor management, direction control and dynamic tipping, and queueing of sensors.

Military officials have raised concerns over congestion in space amid the explosion in growth in the commercial space industry.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond, a speaker at a past Potomac Officers Club event and a two-time Wash100 winner, said that the growing number of satellites might make it difficult for the national security community to distinguish harmless activities from hostile ones.

Gen. James Dickinson, commander of the U.S. Space Command, previously warned that space congestion poses potential safety problems and could restrict access to the space domain.