A consortium led by Celestia TTI has been awarded a €9.9 million contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) for the development of a tracking radar for LEO space debris tracking in Greece.

Celestia TTI will act as prime contractor for the design, development and deployment of the LEO Space Debris Tracking Radar in Greece (HSTR). This asset is Greece’s contribution to the European Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU-SST) consortium, which aims to strengthen EU-SST capabilities, increase its independence and improve the quality of the available space surveillance data.

To achieve this objective, Greece entrusted ESA with the task of developing a tracking radar for deployment by the end of 2026. The tracking system will be designed to complement existing surveillance assets in the EU-SST.

The ambitious project will be managed by Celestia TTI Madrid and represents a major step forwards in the design, development and deployment of tracking radar on both a national and international level.

HSTR will support activities like orbit refinement, re-entry prediction and collision avoidance to improve the quality of the services currently provided by the EU-SST consortium. As an example of the system performance, the HSTR will be capable of detecting an object with a diameter of 2.5 cm at a range of 1000 km.

The project will be split into two phases.  During the first, design phase, the performance requirement will be scaled and scheduled. At the end of the design phase, a Preliminary Design Review will be carried out and once accepted, the activity will continue with a follow-up phase for the development, deployment and validation of the HSTR.

The consortium led by Celestia TTI provides extensive capabilities in the most advanced radar processing techniques, with the involvement of GMV and OHB Hellas as subcontractors, and the collaboration of an Investigation Group from the University of Alcalá de Henares focused on radar processing algorithms.

“This is a well-balanced consortium exploiting the synergies, know-how and expertise in radar solutions provided by the specialist TTI team with the invaluable support of the University of Alcalá de Henares, as well as software development proficiency provided by GMV and OHB-Hellas expertise from multiple engineering disciplines,” said Cristina Barquín, CEO of Celestia TTI.

“A major contract win, it is also recognition of our innovative approach and capabilities in delivering large-scale collaborative projects that greatly advance the design and performance of tracking radar systems. We are excited at the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead,” she added.