In Empfingen, a city south of Stuttgart in the northern Black Forest, the Institute of Technical Physics operates a large observatory for the laser-based detection of space debris objects. The large receiver aperture of 1.75 meters allows for the detection of debris in low Earth orbit with dimensions in the decimeter range. Compared to radar-based monitoring, this laser-based monitoring of objects enables a very precise orbit determination as well as additional information about the shape or the rotational behavior of the objects. This can be used for collision avoidance, especially collisions between small space debris objects and active satellites.
The commissioning of the observatory, which is located in a 15-meter-high rotunda with a dome, took place in fall/autumn(AE/BE) 2021. The large optical telescope with the project name MS-LART (Multi-Spectral Large Aperture Receiver Telescope) is unique in its kind in Europe and forms the basis for groundbreaking research by the scientists of the Institute of Technical Physics in the investigation of orbital objects, especially in low Earth orbit.
In addition to the stationary research observatory, a deployable laser transmitter is being developed at the campaign site in Empfingen, which is located in an ISO container and allows bistatic measurement campaigns with the research observatory as receiver.