DLRmagazine 168 - Articel Taking a new look at space
For some time, the sars have shared the night sky with an ever-increasing number of artificial satellites orbiting Earth. One prominent addition is SpaceX's Starlink constellation, which attracted attention last year as its satellites gleamed in the darkness overhead like a string of celestial pearls. However, the physical condition of individual satellites often remains unknown; their status data tell us nothing about whether a piece of a solar pane has broken off, or if the satellite bus has been dented by a chunk of space debris - and operating companies often only learn that their satellite is defective when the subsystems fail. To continuously document the condition of space objects and identify failures at an early stage, DLR researches are developing a new concept comprising multiple transmitter and receiver units, with the aim of creating a system capable of maintaining continuous, high-quality surveillance of these new celestial bodies.
