#Asteroids are the source of unique information on the origin of the Solar System. However, they are also #debris that represent a potential #threat to our Planet. There are currently more than 20,000 known Near Earth Objects (#NEO) and around 800 are potentially dangerous.
#FLYEYE, the all-Italian telescope developed by OHB Italia S.p.A., can implement a unique Earth protection service on a wide area, scanning the visible sky at least twice a night. Asteroids detection will take place a week in advance than the possible impact thanks to an extremely detailed #opticalobservation. The telescope can intercept an 8cm orbiting object at about 1000Km. The first prototype of the FLYEYE telescope was built for the European Space Agency – ESA, with the active support of the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana.
Recently it successfully completed the Factory Acceptance Test and moreover a new contract was acquired for the construction of the #observatory at the ASI Space Geodesy Center based in Matera. This facility will temporarily house the telescope for the completion of the acceptance cycle and for the first observational phase, waiting the transfer to its final destination in Sicily.
As part of Space Surveillance & Tracking (#SST), space monitoring for #security purposes, OHB Italia is implementing other four FLYEYE telescopes: one of these is financed with funds from ASI Three-Year Activity Plan (PTA), while the other three through funds from the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) allocated to the Agency according to the Next Generation EU plan.
These new space sentinels will be installed in Europe, Australia, North America and South America with the target to increase #mitigation and #monitoring of the colliding risks among space assets, operational spacecrafts and space debris. This network will also be equipped with advanced #software that will allow them to operate in synergy, enabling the creation of an orbiting objects catalogue in the H-LEO/MEO orbital belt.
FLYEYE confirms the system integrator capabilities of OHB Italia and the role of Italy as a world leader in #opticalobservation for Space Surveillance & Tracking.
The #satelliteinfrastructure already in orbit is essential for the services we all rely on in our daily lives, from meteorology and communications to the global transport of goods and passengers. This makes it easy to appreciate the considerable importance of FLYEYE ground-based telescopes in maintaining a safer and more secure orbital environment.
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