Thoth Technology unveils space surveillance system, ranges moon during close approach

PEMBROKE, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 14, 2016) -

Editors Note: There are two photos associated with this press release.

Thoth Technology Inc. in partnership with Analytical Graphics Inc.'s Commercial Space Operations Center (ComSpOC) has developed a deep space radar system for the detection of objects orbiting over North America. Designed to detect and protect key space assets in geostationary orbit, the system also has the capability to locate other space objects including the moon. The team refurbished Canada's largest antenna, a fully steerable 46m dish in Algonquin Park, equipping it with a modern space situational awareness (SSA) system capable of locating targets to within 25 meters.

"Space is our business," said Caroline Roberts, CEO of Thoth. "Our new SSA system can provide real time warning of incoming space objects and also detect faults in geostationary spacecraft," she said.

As part of Thoth's calibration activity, the SSA system tracked the moon for approximately two hours during its close approach to Earth.

"Although it's closer than it's been since 1948, it's still more than 350,000 kilometers from Algonquin Park, and to me that's not that close. It takes the radio waves more than 2.3 seconds to travel to the moon and back to the observatory," said Brendan Quine, Thoth's CTO and the system's designer. "The moon is a great calibration target for us, and it's so beautiful when it is this bright. We should be able to learn a lot about the moon from the data," he said.

Thoth plans further enhancements of its SSA capability to include imaging of space objects shortly.

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