The Air Force recently began operating a Boeing [BA] and Air Force Research Laboratory- (AFRL) built sodium guide star laser that will increase the detail of images captured on a telescope, according to a Boeing statement.
The 50-watt laser, installed on a 3.5-meter telescope at Kirtland AFB, N.M., illuminates sodium atoms in the atmosphere with an intense beam. The laser creates an artificial guide star used to measure the blurring effect caused by turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere. An adaptive optics (AO) system uses this measurement to correct the blurring effect.
Boeing Directed Energy Systems Director of Laser Technical Services Dave DeYoung said recently in an email the laser improves AFRL scientists’ ability to use the telescope to acquire images of satellites in orbit. DeYoung said the laser achieved “first light” Aug. 29 and the new sodium guide star laser replaces a laser that had been in use for the past eight years.
“This is a critically important step in increasing our capabilities in space situational awareness,” AFRL Principal Investigator Dennis Montera said in a statement.
Boeing spokeswoman Elizabeth Merida said in an email limited demonstrations of the entire system’s ability to collect imagery have been underway since first light Aug. 29.
Air Force spokesman Michael Kleiman said he wouldn’t be able to comment by press time.
In addition to the sodium guide star laser, the Air Force is in the process of upgrading its space debris-tracking radar. The service’s next-generation Space Fence system will be an S-band radar designed to cast a broad array to track space debris that could pose risks to satellites or human activity in orbit. It will replace the decades-old Air Force Space Surveillance System (AFSSS).