Costa Rica launches radar to detect space debris

The emotional hugs of the astronauts upon arriving at the International Space Station 1:51

(CNN Spanish) -

 The landscape changed in a small town in Carillo, Guanacaste, in the northern Pacific of Costa Rica, about 250 kilometers from San José, the capital.

In the midst of extensive agricultural land and with a population dedicated to this type of work and tourism, a space radar began to operate, which Franklin R. Chang Díaz, a former Costa Rican astronaut and president of Ad-Astra Rocket - affirms that he participates in the project - it does not hesitate to qualify as the most advanced on the planet, capable of identifying orbital debris up to two centimeters from hundreds of kilometers away.

"It's like identifying a golf ball in Mexico City from Costa Rica, that level of precision had not been achieved so far and that is a great advantage that gives the company that ability to resolve objects."

According to the Silicon Valley company LeoLabs, the main manager of the initiative, it is a commercial radar for monitoring and mapping the low earth orbit, Low Earth Orbit (LEO for its acronym in English) that provides coverage of the equatorial zone. , with which the signature covers this orbit completely.

• SpaceX spacecraft with four NASA astronauts on board arrives at the International Space Station

“With only nine months to go into work in Costa Rica, it is very gratifying to announce the fully operational status of the most advanced commercial space radar of its kind anywhere on the planet,” said Dan Ceperley, co-founder and CEO of LeoLabs, during his inauguration last Thursday.

The company has radars in Alaska, Texas and New Zealand.

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Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado said in the same activity that the radar built by Costa Ricans represents a sign of hope that "the country is capable of doing things well and getting ahead despite adversity."

The installation of this type of instrument allows detecting space debris in the orbits closest to the earth, protecting the operation of active satellites.

Chang explained to CNN that this debris also poses a threat to astronauts on the international space station.

«I did several spacewalks and when I was out of the ship I was worried that a nut, a bolt would hit me at those speeds;

it is like a bullet, it can pierce the spacesuit and the integrity of the ship ”.

Edward Lu, also a former NASA astronaut and co-founder of LeoLabs, highlighted during the activity that the launch of the radar reinforces collision prevention based on additional data flowing from Costa Rica, "which is an important contribution to the sustainability of the space and flight safety ”.

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The SpaceX and NASA Crew-2 mission will be the second operational flight with a crew of four astronauts inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft, bound for the International Space Station, as part of NASA's commercial crew program.

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The launch is this Friday, April 23 at 5:49 AM Miami time.

But, if the weather conditions are not favorable, the launch will be postponed until Monday, April 26 at 4:38 AM Miami time.

(Credit: Gianrigo MARLETTA / AFP via Getty Images)

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The Falcon 9 - which will launch the Dragon spacecraft - is the first reusable rocket that allows SpaceX to reuse the most expensive parts of the rocket while reducing the cost of "access to space."

(Credit: Patrick T. FALLON / AFP via Getty Images)

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Two types of capsules or ships can be integrated into the Falcon 9: the "fairing" in case of loads such as satellites and supplies for the International Space Station, and the Dragon, for the transport of people.

(Credit: Red Huber / Getty Images)

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SpaceX's Crew-2 mission is the first to carry both astronauts in a Falcon 9 and a Dragon that have been used before, but SpaceX prefers the term "flight-proven" which means "tested in flight."

(Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA via Getty Images)

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The Falcon 9 was first used on the Crew-1 mission in November 2020, and the Dragon spacecraft previously flew Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to - and from - the International Space Station during SpaceX's Demo-2 mission in 2020. (Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA via Getty Images)

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After the Dragon ship separates from the Falcon 9, the rocket will land on the maritime platform called Of Course I Still Love You (Ocisly) that operates in the Atlantic Ocean.

(Credit: NASA via Getty Images)

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Both the Of Course I Still Love You platform and the Just Read the Instructions (JRTI) platform - which operates in the Pacific Ocean - were named by Elon Musk after two starships that appear in the science fiction novel "The Player of Games "by Iain M. Banks.

(Credit: Britta Pedersen / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

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After separating from Falcon 9, the Dragon spacecraft will arrive at the International Space Station on Saturday, April 24, at approximately 5:10 AM Miami time.

(Credit: NASA)

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During their stay on the International Space Station, astronauts will work on hundreds of scientific experiments, including the continuation of the Tissue Chips in Space initiative, which studies the role of microgravity in human health and disease to - in the future - improve the health of human beings on Earth.

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The Dragon ship is capable of carrying up to seven passengers to and from Earth orbit.

In fact, it is the only spacecraft that is currently capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth, and it is the first private spacecraft to bring humans to the space station.

(Credit: GREGG NEWTON / AFP via Getty Images)

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Furthermore, this will be the first time that Dragon will fly with two international astronauts and it will also be the first time that two Dragon spacecraft have simultaneously joined the orbiting laboratory.

(Credit: Aubrey Gemignani / NASA via Getty Images)

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After a stay of approximately six months, the astronauts of Dragon and the Crew-2 mission will leave the space station - not before October 31 - to return to Earth and land in the Atlantic Ocean.

(Credit: NASA via Getty Images)

Space technology in agricultural areas

The steel structure of the radar stands in the middle of reeds and near small communities that are gradually becoming familiar with space technology.

Since 2006, a subsidiary of Ad Astra Rocket, based in Texas, is located in this same province, an aerospace engineering company that is dedicated to the development of advanced propulsion technologies from plasma.

For Chang, the installation of radar in the area, with Costa Rican labor, is evidence of the potential that the country and Latin America have in this field, in addition to confirming that space technology can be developed in agricultural regions in a harmonious way, " as it happened in California with Silicon Valley ”, today headquarters of technological giants such as Google, Apple and Facebook.

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The ex-astronaut also stressed that initiatives like this allow young people in the area to dream.

"We have everything to win: space, a first-rate airport, a scientific college and talent, we have to take advantage of all that."

With this, Valery Sánchez, a business administration student from a town near the land where the space radar is located, agrees, who assures that now more young people think that the dream of a career that links them to space technology can become a reality.

"It brings us closer to goals that we thought were impossible."