GESTRA-technology aspects and mode design for space surveillance and tracking

On behalf of the Federal Government the German Space Administration (DLR RFM) commissioned the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques (FHR) in 2015 to design and develop a phased-array based radar for monitoring the low Earth orbit. This so-called German Experimental Space Surveillance and Tracking Radar (GESTRA) will support the German Space Situational Awareness Centre to generate a catalogue of orbital data for all objects with a minimum radar cross section (RCS) at altitudes of less than 3000 km.