Milestone-Proposal:Long-Range Wideband Three-Dimensional Satellite Imaging Using the ALCOR Radar
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Docket #:2023-11
This proposal has been submitted for review.
To the proposer’s knowledge, is this achievement subject to litigation? No
Is the achievement you are proposing more than 25 years old? Yes
Is the achievement you are proposing within IEEE’s designated fields as defined by IEEE Bylaw I-104.11, namely: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy. Yes
Did the achievement provide a meaningful benefit for humanity? Yes
Was it of at least regional importance? Yes
Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to pay for the milestone plaque(s)? Yes
Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to arrange the dedication ceremony? Yes
Has the IEEE Section in which the milestone is located agreed to take responsibility for the plaque after it is dedicated? Yes
Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an IEEE Milestone? Yes
Year or range of years in which the achievement occurred:
1970-1987
Title of the proposed milestone:
Long-Range Wideband Three-Dimensional Satellite Imaging Using the ALCOR Radar, 1970-1987
Plaque citation summarizing the achievement and its significance:
Lincoln Laboratory used the ARPA-Lincoln C-band Observables Radar (ALCOR) to generate the first three-dimensional high-resolution radar images of objects in space: Salyut-1 space station imaged in 1971, and Skylab imaged in May 1973. These images were produced off-line with recorded radar data. In 1987, the first real-time images were produced by the Kwajalein Discrimination System designed and built by Lincoln Laboratory.
200-250 word abstract describing the significance of the technical achievement being proposed, the person(s) involved, historical context, humanitarian and social impact, as well as any possible controversies the advocate might need to review.
During the 1960s, the US ballistic missile defense (BMD) community had developed a need for wideband observables technology to assess re-entry vehicles and decoys. In 1970, the ALCOR (ARPA-Lincoln C-Band Observables Radar) became operational at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the central Pacific. ALCOR served as a test facility for wideband radar techniques under development at Lincoln Laboratory and other organizations in the BMD community. The development of ALCOR from 1970 to 1987 was a significant technical achievement, as it was the first system to demonstrate feasibility and practicality of long-range wideband three-dimensional imaging of satellites from a ground-based radar. ALCOR’s first images were of the Soviet Salyut-1 space station, which were produced in 1971 using inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) techniques – those images are still classified and not available for public release. In 1973, ALCOR radar system images were used to diagnose deployment problems of the U.S. Skylab space station. In 1987, ALCOR demonstrated the first near real-time wideband waveform imaging of space objects. The ALCOR radar demonstrated a benefit to humanity as it provided ground-based wideband imaging technology for better understanding of re-entry vehicles, decoys, satellites, and space debris. Following the development of ALCOR, this wideband imaging technology was picked up worldwide. The German Research Establishment for Applied Science (FGAN) Research Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques (FHR) Tracking and Imaging Radar (TIRA), built in the 1990s, uses comparable wideband technology and ISAR algorithms and today generates many space-object images that are viewable in the public domain.
IEEE technical societies and technical councils within whose fields of interest the Milestone proposal resides.
IEEE Signal Processing Society, IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTTS), IEEE Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society (AESS)
In what IEEE section(s) does it reside?
Boston Section
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone:
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) paying for milestone plaque(s):
Unit: IEEE Boston Section
Senior Officer Name: Rui Ma
Unit: IEEE Boston Section
Senior Officer Name: Gilmore Cooke, Boston Section Milestone Coordinator
Unit: IEEE Boston Section
Senior Officer Name: Robert J. Alongi, Jr., Business Manager
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) arranging the dedication ceremony:
Unit: IEEE Boston Section
Senior Officer Name: Rui Ma
Unit: IEEE Boston Section
Senior Officer Name: Gilmore Cooke, Boston Section Milestone Coordinator
Unit: IEEE Boston Section
Senior Officer Name: Robert J. Alongi, Jr., Business Manager
IEEE section(s) monitoring the plaque(s):
IEEE Section: IEEE Boston Section
IEEE Section Chair name: Rui Ma
Milestone proposer(s):
Proposer name: Dr. Christopher J. Galbraith
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Dr. Alan J. Fenn
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Dr. Mohamed Abouzahra
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Please note: your email address and contact information will be masked on the website for privacy reasons. Only IEEE History Center Staff will be able to view the email address.
Street address(es) and GPS coordinates in decimal form of the intended milestone plaque site(s):
Main Lobby, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory, 244 Wood Street, Lexington, MA 02421 (coordinates in decimal degrees: 42.459061, 71.266997)
Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.
Please give the address(es) of the plaque site(s) (GPS coordinates if you have them). Also please give the details of the mounting, i.e. on the outside of the building, in the ground floor entrance hall, on a plinth on the grounds, etc. If visitors to the plaque site will need to go through security, or make an appointment, please give the contact information visitors will need. The site of the proposed plaque is in MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s main entrance and lobby area, 244 Wood Street, Lexington, MA 02421 (coordinates in decimal degrees: 42.459061, 71.266997), which is open to the public. The following proposed plaque citation Long-Range Wideband Three-Dimensional Satellite Imaging Using the ALCOR Radar explains the intended site’s (MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts) direct connection with the achievement.
Are the original buildings extant?
Yes
Details of the plaque mounting:
Main Lobby milestone display case, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, 244 Wood Street, Lexington, MA 02421 (coordinates in decimal degrees: 42.459061, 71.266997)
How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?
The site (MIT Lincoln Laboratory) has gated access that requires presentation of identification to enter. MIT Lincoln Laboratory is a secure facility. The main entrance and lobby area is open to the public, and the Laboratory often opens its auditorium to outside events, including IEEE Boston Section, IEEE Photonics Society Boston Chapter, and IEEE Life Fellow meetings; and Science on Saturday demonstrations for K−12 students. This location is adjacent to the facilities in which the original images were generated.
Who is the present owner of the site(s)?
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)? If personal names are included in citation, include justification here. (see section 6 of Milestone Guidelines)
This pioneering work from 1970 to 1987 demonstrated the feasibility and practicality of long-range wideband three-dimensional imaging of satellites from a ground-based radar system.
Significant milestones leading to the development of long-range wideband three-dimensional images of satellites from a ground-based radar system.
- 1970: ARPA-Lincoln C-Band Observables Radar (ALCOR) became operational
- 1971: Soviet Salyut-1 space station imaged by ALCOR using inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) techniques
- 1973: ALCOR used to image U.S. Skylab to assist in diagnosing deployment problems
- 1973: First real-time wideband waveform compression using surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices
- 1987: The first real-time images were produced using the Kwajalein Discrimination System
What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?
In the late 1960s, research on wide-bandwidth radar technology reached a maturity that offered the possibility of implementing field capable sensors. The ballistic missile defense (BMD) community had developed a need for wideband observables to conduct proof-of-concept demonstrations for a number of critical BMD functions for assessment of re-entry vehicles and decoys. In 1970, the ALCOR (ARPA-Lincoln C-Band Observables Radar) became operational at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the central Pacific. In addition to its primary role as an instrumentation radar, ALCOR served as a test facility for wideband radar techniques under development at Lincoln Laboratory as well as other organizations in the BMD community [1-4].
What features set this work apart from similar achievements?
In 1987, with the installation of the Kwajalein Discrimination System at the millimeter-wave radar adjacent to ALCOR, in situ real-time imaging of space objects became a reality [17], and the technology was picked up worldwide. The German Research Establishment for Applied Science (FGAN) Research Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques (FHR) Tracking and Imaging Radar (TIRA), built in the 1990s, uses comparable wideband technology and ISAR algorithms and today generates many space-object images that are viewable in the public domain [18]Reference 18 .
Supporting texts and citations to establish the dates, location, and importance of the achievement: Minimum of five (5), but as many as needed to support the milestone, such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or chapters in scholarly books. 'Scholarly' is defined as peer-reviewed, with references, and published. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. At least one of the references must be from a scholarly book or journal article. All supporting materials must be in English, or accompanied by an English translation.
What is its importance to the evolution of electrical and computer engineering and science?
At the time of the ALCOR radar antenna system development (Figure 1), the prospect of such a radar was viewed by some as a very high-risk venture. They argued that there would be difficulty generating and amplifying wideband pulses with 500 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth for 4 megawatt (MW) peak power at C-band (5.6 GHz) for 0.5m imaging resolution. The ALCOR signal processing system used surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices to demonstrate the first real-time compression of wideband waveforms.
How was this achievement a significant advance rather than an incremental advancement?
Generation of the First Wideband Radar Images [5-14]
In 1971, the Soviet Salyut-1 space station was imaged by ALCOR using ISAR techniques. This event is the actual first image generation of a remote space object by a ground-based wide-bandwidth radar. Those data are still classified and not available for public release. In May 1973, ALCOR data were used to image the U.S. Skylab in order to assist in the diagnosis of deployment problems aboard the spacecraft. (Reference 8: Media:Camp-Wideband-Radar-for-BMD-Range-Doppler-Imaging-Satellites-LLJournal-2000.pdf), (Reference 12: Media:Hall-The-Space-Mission-at-Kwajalein-LLJournal-2012.pdf) The radar imaging data showed that one lateral solar panels was missing and one lateral solar panel was only partially deployed. Subsequently, the lateral solar panel was repaired (Figure 2). A simulated extended coherent processing radar image of the repaired Skylab was made public in 2000 [8] (Figure 3), and to this day, the actual radar imaging data for Skylab [9] are classified as are all other ALCOR imaging data.
Importance of the Technology to Regional/National/International Development [6, 14-16]
The generation of these radar images was the beginning in wideband radar technology for diagnostics and discrimination of targets. ALCOR’s role as an imaging sensor and a technology test bed steadily grew thereafter. ALCOR’s imaging capability was the basis upon which the U.S. Air Force created its Space-Object Identification (SOI) program. The SOI program provides knowledge of where all man-made objects in space are, what they are, what their missions and capabilities are and what their current status is. This information is an important component of the nation’s space situational awareness defense posture.
What is its benefit to humanity?
The Lincoln Laboratory development of Long-Range Wideband Three-Dimensional Satellite Imaging Using the ALCOR Radar provided the capability for better understanding of re-entry vehicles and objects including satellites and space debris orbiting the Earth.
Supporting materials (supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC): All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. For documents that are copyright-encumbered, or which you do not have rights to post, email the documents themselves to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please see the Milestone Program Guidelines for more information.
References
1. M. I. Skolnik, “Radar and MIT Lincoln Laboratory: A View from a Distance,” Lincoln Laboratory Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, 2000 pp. 143-145. Media:Skolnik-Radar-and-MITLL-LLJournal-2000.pdf
2. M. Axelbank, W. W. Camp, V. L. Lynn, and J. Margolin, “ALCOR—A High-Sensitivity Radar with One-Half Meter Range Resolution,” IEEE 71 International Conv. Digest, NY, 22-25, Mar 1971, pp. 112-113.
3. R. K. Avent, J. D. Shelton, and P. Brown, “The ALCOR C-Band Imaging Radar,” IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, 38 (3) 1996, pp. 16-27.
4. W. P. Delaney, “Wideband Radar”, (Looking Back) Lincoln Laboratory Journal, vol. 18, no. 2, 2010, pp. 87-88. Media:Delaney-Wideband-Radar-LookingBack_LLJournal-18_2-2010.pdf
5. E.C. Freeman, Ed., “MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Technology in the National Interest”, 1995, Space Surveillance, Chapter 8, pp. 116-119, ISBN 0-9645720-0-1, Library of Congress 94-74574. Media:Freeman-Chapter_8_Technology_National_Interest-1995-pp-116-119.pdf
6. D. A. Ausherman, A. Kozma, J.L. Walker, H. Jones, E. C. Poggio, “Developments in Radar Imaging”, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, AES-20, no. 4, July 1984, pp. 363-400.
7. W. P. Delaney, and W. W. Ward, “Radar Development at Lincoln Laboratory: An Overview of the First Fifty Years”, Lincoln Laboratory Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, 2000, pp. 147-166. Media:Delaney-Radar-Development-at-Lincoln-Laboratory-LLJournal-2000.pdf
8. W. W. Camp, J. T. Mayhan, R. M. O’Donnell, “Wideband Radar for Ballistic Missile Defense and Range-Doppler Imaging of Satellites,” Lincoln Laboratory Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, 2000, pp. 267-279. Media:Camp-Wideband-Radar-for-BMD-Range-Doppler-Imaging-Satellites-LLJournal-2000.pdf
9. “Evaluation of Skylab-1 Problems Using SOSI Techniques,” MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report PSI-1-5, Supplement 1, 30 January 1974.
10. Y. Pasmurov, and J. S. Zinoviev, Radar Imaging and Holography, Section 9.2, p. 215, “Radar Imaging Applications, The Institution of Engineering and Technology, London, 2005.
11. A.A. Grometstein, Ed., “MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Technology in Support of National Security”, ISBN 978-0-615-42880-2, Library of Congress 2010940675, Ch. 10 (Space Awareness), pp. 168-171, 2011.
12. T.D. Hall, G.A. Duff, & L. J. Maciel, “The Space Mission at Kwajalein”, Lincoln Laboratory Journal, vol. 19, no. 2, 2012, pp. 48-63. Media:Hall-The-Space-Mission-at-Kwajalein-LLJournal-2012.pdf
13. J.A. Nelson and K.R. Roth, “History of Lincoln Laboratory at the Reagan Test Site”, Lincoln Laboratory Journal, vol. 19, no. 2, 2012, pp. 5-33. Media:Nelson-History-LL-at-Reagan-Test-Site-LLJournal2012.pdf
14. Space Surveillance Sensors: ALCOR Radar; 17 May 2012. http://mostlymissiledefense.com/2012/05/20/illustration-of-radar-imaging-of-satellite-may-20-2012/ (accessed 26 April 2023).
15. K. R. Roth, M. E. Austin, D. J. Frediani, G. H. Knittel, and A. V. Mrstik, “The Kiernan Reentry Measurements System on Kwajalein Atoll”, Lincoln Laboratory Journal, vol. 2, no. 2, 1989, pp. 247-276. Media:Roth-The Kiernan Reentry Measurements System on Kwajalein Atoll-LLJournal-1989.pdf
16. M. C. Schexnayder, “Technology Development and Transition”, Army Space Journal, Fall 2004, pp. 6,7.
17. S.B. Bowling, R.A. Ford, and F.W. Vote, “Design of a Real-Time Imaging and Discrimination System”, The Lincoln Laboratory Journal. vol. 2, no. 1, 1989, pp. 95-104.
18. A Sourcebook for the Use of the FGAN Tracking and Imaging Radar for Satellite Imaging, 22 April 2012. https://spp.fas.org/military/program/track/fgan.pdf (accessed 30 April 2023)
Letters of support:
- Support letter from the Director of MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Media:Support-Letter-ALCOR Milestone-MIT-LL-Directors-Office-Eric-Evans-2june2023.pdf
- Support letter from the Chair and Milestone Coordinator of the IEEE Boston Section. Media:Support-Letter-ALCOR Milestone-Boston-Section-IEEE 10may2023.pdf
- Support letter from the IEEE Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society: President. Media:Support-Letter-ALCOR Milestone IEEE-AESS-President-Mark-Davis-24may2023.pdf
- Support letter from the IEEE Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society: Radar Systems Panel, Technical Committee Chair. Media:Support-Letter-ALCOR Milestone-IEEE-AESS-Technical-Committee-Chair-Laura-Anatori-23may2023.pdf
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