Development of Radar System for Laser Tracking System
Ki-Pyoung Sung, Hyung-Chul Lim, Mansoo Choi, Sung-Yeol Yu · Journal of Space Technology and Applications · 2024
Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) developed an satellite laser ranging (SLR) system for tracking space objects using ultra-pulsed lasers. For the safe operation of SLR system, aircraft surveillance radar system (ASRS) was developed to prevent human damage from high power laser transmitted from the SLR system. The ASRS consists of the radar hardware subsystem (RHS) and main control subsystem (MCS), in order to detect flying objects in the direction of laser propagation and then stop immediately the laser transmission. The RHS transmits the radio frequency (RF) pulse signals and receives the returned signals, while the MCS analyzes the characteristics of received signals and distinguishes the existence of flying objects. If the flying objects are determined to be existed, the MCS sends the command signal to the laser controller in SLR system to pause the laser firing. In this study, we address the interface and operational scenarios of ASRS, including the design of RHS and MCS. It was demonstrated in the aircraft experiments that the ASRS could detect an aircraft and then stop transmitting high power laser successfully.