History of U.S. Space Surveillance and Satellite Cataloging: A Long and Winding Road

Creation of a fundamentally new technical capability ideally begins with the recognition of some future need, a careful description of requirements, development, testing, and operational implementation. In contrast to this ideal situation, the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite on 4 October 1957 created an immediate need within the United States to track and maintain a catalog of orbital elements for artificial Earth satellites. This required inventing a solution to a problem that did not even exist prior to 1957. Thus, the initial effort was driven both by external circumstances and by highly constrained solution options such as computing and data communications capacities. This external event-driven paradigm has continued to be the case to this day. Describing the system evolution based on a small mix of planning and far larger mix of reaction to external circumstance, in fact, makes a very interesting story. This book begins with an introduction that provides a snapshot collection of episodes from the first half century of space surveillance that illustrates how events drove invention. The narrative describes how external problems arose, demanding near real-time adaptation and invention to maintain the satellite catalog and provide timely space situational awareness. The main elements of space surveillance are then discussed separately, such as key people and organizations, orbit models, computing systems, observing sites, networks, and international relationships. The book concludes with an Epilogue briefly discussing the prospects and problems facing the future space surveillance mission. Aimed at engineers and specialists in space surveillance as well as general readers, this systematic historical account broadens and clarifies understanding of this fascinating, vitally important, and often underappreciated field.

About the Author :
Dr. Paul W. Schumacher Jr. earned all three degrees in aerospace engineering from Virginia Tech (B.S. 1975, M.S. 1977, and Ph.D. 1987). He has 34 years of experience in the Space Control mission area. Most recently, he served as Principal Investigator in Astrodynamics at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Advanced Maui Optical and Supercomputing (AMOS) Site, and previously was the Technical Lead for the High-Performance Computing Software Applications Institute for Space Situational Awareness (HSAI-SSA) at Air Force Research Laboratory. From 1988 until 2005, he served with Naval Space Surveillance Center, Naval Space Command, and Naval Network and Space Operations Command in Dahlgren, VA, first as an Aerospace Engineer in Software and Analysis, and later as Technical Advisor for Operations. Dr. Schumacher is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA and served on AIAA's Astrodynamics Committee on Standards from 1992 until 2005. He has served several terms with the American Astronautical Society Space Flight Mechanics Committee, and is a Charter Member of the AAS Space Surveillance Committee. He was elected to membership in the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society in 1987. Dr. Felix R. Hoots is a Technical Fellow at The Aerospace Corporation. With more than 50 years of experience in space surveillance, Hoots is widely recognized for his contributions to both the theoretical as well as the operational side of the Space Surveillance Network and associated processing centers. Prior to joining Aerospace, Hoots worked as an astrodynamicist for the Fourteenth Air Force (14th AF) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD/ADCOM) and then as a chief scientist for GRC International. As a civil servant he was instrumental in developing satellite orbital prediction models and close approach algorithms used to maintain the catalog of satellites. His work as a contractor supported the Air Force and Navy as well as the intelligence community in their space and surveillance activities. He has been an invited speaker at conferences for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the International Astronomical Union and was technical organizer and speaker at a series of U.S./Russian Space Surveillance Workshops from 1994 to 2012. Hoots earned a Bachelor's degree in physics and a Master's degree in mathematics from Tennessee Technological University. He earned a Ph.D. in mathematics with an emphasis in astrodynamics from Auburn University. In 2006, Hoots received the American Association for the Advancement of Science Award for International Scientific Cooperation. In 2016, he received the Brouwer Award from the American Astronautical Society and the Corporate Innovation Award from The Aerospace Corporation. He is a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society and a Fellow of the AIAA. He has previously served as an associate editor of the AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics. Dr. Kyle "Terry" Alfriend is the Jack E. and Francis Brown II Chair Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University and a University Distinguished Professor. In 2025 he was named a Regents Professor. He has over 60 years of diverse experience in the aerospace business that includes research, development, and management in the private sector, government, and academia. He is a member of the NAE, an Honorary Fellow of the AIAA, a Fellow of the AAS, and a member of the International Academy of Astronautics. In 2022, he received the AIAA Goddard Award, the premier AIAA award for space. He has served as an Associate Editor and Editor-in-Chief of both the AAS Journal of the Astronautical Sciences and the AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics. He is also the recipient of the AAS Dirk Brouwer Award, the AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight Award, and the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control of Flight Award. In 2007 he was selected to give the Von Karman lecture at the 2008 Israel Aerospace Sciences Conference and in 2015 the IAC John Breakwell lecture. He received his BS and PhD from Virginia Tech in 1962 and 1967 and his MS from Stanford University in 1964. His research interests are in satellite formation dynamics, control and navigation, space domain awareness, astrodynamics, satellite attitude dynamics and control, and spacecraft design.