The Space Surveillance Telescope – Australia (SST-A) is part of the Space Surveillance Network, a worldwide network of 29 military radar and optical telescopes that observe and catalogue space objects to identify potential collisions.
Space Surveillance Telescope - Australia
A Joint Project
The Space Surveillance Telescope is a joint project between the Australian Department of Defense and the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Enclosure Mechanization
Uni-Systems Engineering assisted M3 Engineering with the design of the azimuth and shutter mechanisms, which included some unique design challenges due to the extreme site conditions and remote site location. In particular, the high cyclonic winds – unmatched anywhere else in the world – created unusually high lateral loads, leading to a novel dual lateral restraint scheme and more robust uplift restraints.
For additional technical details, refer to “Design and Construction of the SST Australia Observatory in a Cyclonic Region” (2018), published in SPIE.
General Information
Completed: 2019
Location: Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt, Australia
Subsystems: Azimuth and Shutters
Project Team
Structural Engineer: M3 Engineering
Mechanization Engineer: Uni-Systems Engineering
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