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"Das Radom Wachtberg ist eine Radarkuppel (engl.: Radar Dome) in Wachtberg, einer Gemeinde im nordrhein-westfälischen Rhein-Sieg-Kreis bei Bonn. Es dient als Wetterschutzhülle einer Radaranlage und ist das größte der Welt. Die gesamte Großradaranlage wird offiziell als Weltraumbeobachtungsradar TIRA (Tracking and Imaging Radar) bezeichnet und ist ein Forschungsradar des Fraunhofer FHR.
Das Radom hat einen Durchmesser von 47,5 Metern (bis 2014: 49 Metern) und eine Höhe von 54,5 Metern (Stand: vor 2014). Der dreh- und schwenkbare Parabolspiegel in seinem Inneren hat einen Durchmesser von 34 Metern und wiegt 240 Tonnen. Eine vollständige Drehung des Spiegels in Azimut ist in nur 15 Sekunden möglich, also mit einer Winkelgeschwindigkeit von 24°/s.
Die zur Errichtung des Radars gegründete Gesellschaft zur Förderung der astrophysikalischen Forschung wurde am 9. Dezember 1955 in das Vereinsregister eingetragen[4] und gründete 1957 das Forschungsinstitut für Hochfrequenzphysik (FHP). Mit dem Bau des Radoms wurde 1965 begonnen. Im Jahr 1970 erfolgten die Inbetriebnahme und erste Experimente. Die erste Satellitenvermessung konnte 1973 durchgeführt werden. Das Radom gehörte zur 2009 aufgelösten Gesellschaft FGAN, die danach in eine Organisation innerhalb des Fraunhofer-Instituts umgewandelt wurde.
Von Herbst 2010 bis Herbst 2011 wurde das TIRA-System aufwändig modernisiert: Die Antriebssteuerung wurde erneuert und ein neuer Hochleistungssender eingebaut. Im Laufe des Jahres 2014 wurde das Radom vollständig erneuert und erhielt dabei eine leicht geringere Größe als zuvor."
EN (Translation):
"The Radom Wachtberg is a radar dome in Wachtberg, a municipality in the Rhine-Sieg district of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which serves as the weather protection cover for a radar system and is the largest in the world Space observation radar TIRA (Tracking and Imaging Radar) and is a research radar of Fraunhofer FHR.
The radome has a diameter of 47.5 meters (by 2014: 49 meters) and a height of 54.5 meters (as of 2014). The rotating and pivoting parabolic mirror inside it has a diameter of 34 meters and weighs 240 tons. A complete rotation of the mirror in azimuth is possible in only 15 seconds, ie with an angular velocity of 24 ° / s.
The Society for the Advancement of Astrophysical Research, founded on the establishment of the radar, was registered in the Association Register on December 9, 1955 [4] and founded the Research Institute for High Frequency Physics (FHP) in 1957. The construction of the radome was started in 1965. In 1970 the commissioning and initial experiments were carried out. The first satellite survey was carried out in 1973. Radom was part of the company FGAN, which was dissolved in 2009, which was subsequently converted into an organization within the Fraunhofer Institute.
From autumn 2010 to autumn 2011, the TIRA system was extensively modernized: the drive control was renewed and a new high-power transmitter was installed. In the course of the year 2014 the Radom was completely renewed and received a slightly smaller size than before. "
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"The Tracking & Imaging Radar (TIRA) system serves as the central experimental facility for the development and investigation of radar techniques for the detection and reconnaissance of objects in space, and to a certain degree also of air targets. TIRA has a 34-metre parabolic dish antenna is a monopulse radar operating at 1.333 GHz or 22.5 cm (L band) and 16.7 GHz or 1.8 cm (Ku band) wavelengths. The L-band is usually used for tracking debris with a 0.45° beam width, at 1 MW peak power. The system is capable of determining orbits from direction angles, range and Doppler shift for single targets. The detection size threshold is about 2 cm at 1000 km range.[2] The radar conducts regular ‘beam park’ experiments, where the radar beam is pointed in a fixed direction on the celestial sphere for 24 hours, scanning 360° in a narrow strip a complete Earth rotation. The tracking sensitive can be enhanced when the TIRA system is used as a transmitter, part of a bistatic radar system. In conjunction with the Effelsberg Radio Telescope, functioning as a receiver, the combined system has a detection size threshold of 1 cm. The Ku-band is used for imaging in Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) mode, with 13 kW peak power, the radar is capable of producing images with range resolutions better than 7 cm. The dish can be turned full 360° in azimuth with speed of 24° per second and 90° in elevation. The radar is protected by a radome with 47 meters diameter - one of the largest in the world.
Due to its capabilities, the system is used as a radar tracking system for space debris and other in-orbit object in the ESA's Space Situational Awareness Programme (SSA).[4]
TIRA is located at the FGAN (Coordinates: 50.6166°N 7.1296°E) site, in Wachtberg near Bonn, Germany. It is run by the Fraunhofer-FHR - the Fraunhofer-Institut für Hochfrequenzphysik und Radartechnik (High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques)."