The installation of the ESA Laser Ranging Station (ELRS), now officially named Izaña1 (IZN-1), at the Teide Observatory in Tenerife is making good progress.

The station, telescope and laser installations were completed during May-June and were followed by the initial ranging tests to Galileo and GLONASS satellites, which were completed successfully. 

Once operational, the system will allow the tracking of scientific target satellites and advance the technology required for highly accurate ranging of non-cooperative space debris objects.

By using a special combination of telescopes, detectors and light filters at specific wavelengths, researchers have found that it is in fact possible to increase the contrast of objects with respect to the daylight sky, revealing objects previously hiding in plain sight.

“We are used to the idea that you can only see stars at night, and this has similarly been true for observing debris with telescopes, except with a much smaller time window to observe low-orbit objects,” explains Tim Flohrer, Head of ESA’s Space Debris Office.

“Using this new technique, it will become possible to track previously ‘invisible’ objects that had been lurking in the blue skies, which means we can work all day with laser ranging to support collision avoidance.”