“There is more and more debris and small satellites that have to be tracked, and iSpace takes all the data from more than 300 sensors to correlate and deconflict” space objects that might be in danger of colliding, said Scott Norr, director of operational command and control programs and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s Rotary & Mission Systems unit in Colorado Springs.

“We saw that the U.S. government needed the capability for space situational awareness – accurate and timely data from launch through re-entry, and we are the only ones who track all objects in space,” Norr said.

“Our command and control software can change what the sensors are targeting and use data and predictive analytics to predict whether there is a threat or (potential) collision.”

The iSpace system incorporates an artificial intelligence element called Space Event Risk Assessment, which compares the movement of a space object to its past behavior to determine whether it is operating normally or has become a threat. Norr said the element also can be used to predict when and where an object re-entering the earth’s atmosphere will land.

U.S. export rules limit how much of the system other governments can acquire, Norr said.

? While Lockheed is working on a new system to track space objects, Raytheon engineers are working to keep alive a more than 20-year-old system that tracks space debris, called the Space Defense Operations Center. About 20 of Raytheon’s 500 Springs employees have developed and successfully tested a plan to run the center’s software on new hardware until a replacement is ready.

Raytheon won the $25 million SPADOC Emulation Analysis Risk Reduction contract in August and has proved in testing that its plan works. The company is negotiating details with the Department of Defense to put its plan into action, which should happen in a few weeks, said Dave Fuino, the company’s program director for Intelligence, Information and Services in Colorado Springs.