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Feature ArticlesArticles de FondThe Space Surveillance Researchand Analysis Laboratoryby Michael A. Earl (earl-m@rmc.ca)introductionThe Space Surveillance Researchand Analysis Laboratory (SSRAL)at the Royal Military College (RMC)was founded in 1996 to establish an opticalsensor to be used specifically for highaltitude satellite tracking. The laboratorybegan its research into tracking Russiancommunications satellites in the summerof 1997 in order to study their uniqueorbits. This work spawned other researchinto the dynamics of satellites, such asdetermining satellite tumbling periodsand predicting orbit decay.The history of the SSRAL is a shortbut very interesting one. When thelaboratory began, it had virtually noequipment with which to track satellites.As the laboratory grew, it acquiredtechnologies that greatly increased itsdata output and data precision. Today,SSRAL has nearly completed theconstruction of its automatic satellitetracking facility, called The CanadianAutomated Small Telescope for OrbitalResearch (CASTOR).This is a brief description of thepast, present, and future of the SSRAL asviewed through the eyes of its seniortechnician, who has worked at the labfrom May 1997 to the present time.historyWhen I began working for the SSRAL, Idid not know anything about satellitetracking except that artificial satellitesorbited the Earth and that I could seesome of them crossing the sky at night.I was, however, a 20-yearveteran, so to speak, ofobservational backyardastronomy. In May 1997,the SSRAL had not yetassembled its officefurniture, which lay inboxes in one corner of thelab. It owned no telescopeswith which to tracksatellites. The only thingit did have was four Sunworkstations with satelliteorbit analysis software.My job was to learn howto use this software toanalyze data collected bythe University of Victoria (UVic). The goalat that time was to determine the orbitalcharacteristics of specific satellites.Very little data were actually collectedat UVic before the satellite-tracking projectthere ran out of funding and closed down.The SSRAL was then left in a quandary.The SSRAL still had no equipment toperform the data collection, but my own8-inch reflecting telescope was available.I decided to attempt to see a Molniyasatellite from the roof of the Sawyerbuilding at RMC using my own equipment.Molniya satellites are Russiancommunications satellites first launchedby the Soviet Union in 1965 to providetelevision, telephone, and telegraph servicesfor much of the Russian sub-continent.Molniya satellites’ orbits are inclined at63 degrees to the equatorial plane (theplane defined by the Earth’s equator).Their orbits are also highly eccentric. Asa result, the difference between the apogeeA typical Molniya satellite consists of a cylinder of 1.6-metrediameter and 3.4 metre length surrounded by six 5-metre solararrays. Its total mass is 1600 kg. There are currently 73 of thesesatellites in orbit. Fewer than 25 percent of the orbiting Molniyasatellites are still operational.(furthest distance from Earth) and perigee(closest distance to Earth) of the satellitesis substantial. At apogee the satellitescan reach an altitude (the height abovethe Earth’s surface) of about 40,000 kmwhile at perigee the altitude is a mere 400km. The high eccentricity of the orbitsensures that the satellites are well placedover Russia for a large portion of theirorbits. They generally stay over the NorthernHemisphere for about 10 hours of their12-hour total orbital period. Since theMolniya satellites orbit twice every 24hours, this means that at every secondorbit each satellite is over North Americaand not Russia. For those readers whoare wondering, some of the Molniyasatellites were indeed used as spy satellitesduring the Cold War.Molniya satellites have three distinctdesignations. The first series is namedMolniya 1-1, 1-2, etc, in order of launch.The most recent of these has been MolniyaDecember/ décembre 2000 JRASC213