Neuraspace, a Portuguese space traffic management startup, has announced the installation of a second optical telescope in Chile. This addition to their existing telescope in Portugal significantly expands their ability to track low Earth orbit (LEO) objects across both hemispheres.
Activated on December 6th, the Chilean telescope can detect objects as small as 10 centimeters. This complements the telescope at the Portuguese Air Force base in Beja, operational since September. The European Commission funded both telescopes through Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, with a total investment of 25 million euros ($26 million). Deimos, recently acquired by Indra, supplied the telescopes.
Neuraspace plans to integrate data from its telescopes with publicly available information and partnerships to enhance its space traffic management services. Their AI-powered platform provides real-time satellite position information, crucial for collision avoidance.
According to Neuraspace CEO Chiara Manfletti, the new telescopes provide data roughly every second, reducing positional error to under 100 meters per orbit. “Due to their locations, our measurement results would roughly double over the course of one year, addressing seasonal gaps associated with tracking LEO objects with passive optical systems,” Manfletti explained. “Thus, we will have more data that can be used to update orbits at least two times more frequently. And by tracking data with two telescopes, we can obtain orbits up to several times more accurately than by using only one sensor.”
The company’s first telescope has already generated over 300,000 measurements, and they anticipate a 25% increase in productivity from the Chilean telescope due to superior viewing conditions. “Because of better viewing conditions, Neuraspace will also be able to achieve slightly better accuracy, more detection and fainter objects,” Manfletti added. Currently, over 400 satellites utilize Neuraspace’s platform for conjunction monitoring and collision avoidance, with a free version launched in March to encourage wider collaboration.