The SSA Research Group focuses on ensuring that our satellites can operate safely in Space. A prerequisite for ensuring their reliability is ascertaining what can pose a threat to satellites and what countermeasures can be taken in a hazardous situation. A close encounter with another object which might result in a collision is one example of the possible risks. COLA (Collision Avoidance) is a tool which the Flight Dynamics Team uses to analyse such scenarios. Essential to the success of this process is the availability of accurate orbit data of the satellite in question and of an object within its range. At the moment the Joint Space Operation Center (JSpOC) of the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) supplies GSOC with Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) information. However, as the orbit data catalogue used as a basis for identifying impending collisions is incomplete it makes sense to develop in-house orbit surveillance sensors. For this reason GCOC is working on and will be running SMARTnet (Small Aperture Robotic Telescope Network), a dedicated sensory network. The SSA Research Group supports several sensor analyses to monitor LEO and is preparing in close cooperation with DLR’s Microwaves and Radar Institute its own radar tracking system capable of detecting and monitoring near-Earth objects using innovative sensor technology. The information system used to process the data generated by the sensors is called BACARDI (Backbone Catalogue of Relational Debris Information). DLR’s Institute for Simulation and Software Technology is working on a software framework for distributed computing for the BACARDI project using high performance computer technology (HPC engineering) and an integrated relational data base system.