First Experimental Results of Space Object Detection Using the InteRFeX Array
Abstract
This paper presents the first experimental validation of InteRFeX, a non-uniform receive only (passive) array located at the Nova Systems Space Precinct in Peterborough, Australia, designed for space domain awareness applications. It operates over a frequency range of 70 to 300 MHz and is capable of functioning in a range of observational modes, including as a coherent passive bistatic radar for space surveillance, which is the focus of this work. InteRFeX exploits commercial broadcast transmissions as illuminators of opportunity, combining cross-ambiguity function processing for bistatic range and range-rate retrieval with MUSIC-based direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation for angular localization. The International Space Station (ISS) serves as the experimental target, with measurements evaluated against Two-Line Element (TLE) orbit predictions. Taking advantage of the dual-polarized array, all four reference--surveillance polarization combinations are evaluated, revealing differences in detection rate and mean signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over the observation pass, with bistatic-range RMSEs of approximately 1 km relative to the TLE-derived reference. Independently, the MUSIC-based DoA estimates exhibit a mean angular separation of approximately 0.45∘ from the TLE-derived reference directions. The angular deviations are further decomposed into along-track and cross-track components, enabling a more detailed characterization of the DoA offsets relative to the TLE-derived reference trajectory. The processing framework also includes a first-order bistatic link-budget analysis to estimate the expected SNR over the observation geometry. These results demonstrate the feasibility of passive-radar space domain awareness using radio-interferometric array technology and establish the proposed signal-processing pipeline as a basis for a dedicated coherent passive-radar mode within InteRFeX.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{ahuja2026first,
title = {{First Experimental Results of Space Object Detection Using the InteRFeX Array}},
author = {Bhaskar Ahuja and Thomas Crowther and Steven Tingay and Andrew Guidi and Luca Gentile and Marco Martorella},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.13537},
eprint = {2610.13537},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.13537},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - First Experimental Results of Space Object Detection Using the InteRFeX Array
AU - Bhaskar Ahuja
AU - Thomas Crowther
AU - Steven Tingay
AU - Andrew Guidi
AU - Luca Gentile
AU - Marco Martorella
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.13537
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.13537
AB - This paper presents the first experimental validation of InteRFeX, a non-uniform receive only (passive) array located at the Nova Systems Space Precinct in Peterborough, Australia, designed for space domain awareness applications. It operates over a frequency range of 70 to 300 MHz and is capable of functioning in a range of observational modes, including as a coherent passive bistatic radar for space surveillance, which is the focus of this work. InteRFeX exploits commercial broadcast transmissions as illuminators of opportunity, combining cross-ambiguity function processing for bistatic range and range-rate retrieval with MUSIC-based direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation for angular localization. The International Space Station (ISS) serves as the experimental target, with measurements evaluated against Two-Line Element (TLE) orbit predictions. Taking advantage of the dual-polarized array, all four reference--surveillance polarization combinations are evaluated, revealing differences in detection rate and mean signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over the observation pass, with bistatic-range RMSEs of approximately 1 km relative to the TLE-derived reference. Independently, the MUSIC-based DoA estimates exhibit a mean angular separation of approximately 0.45^∘ from the TLE-derived reference directions. The angular deviations are further decomposed into along-track and cross-track components, enabling a more detailed characterization of the DoA offsets relative to the TLE-derived reference trajectory. The processing framework also includes a first-order bistatic link-budget analysis to estimate the expected SNR over the observation geometry. These results demonstrate the feasibility of passive-radar space domain awareness using radio-interferometric array technology and establish the proposed signal-processing pipeline as a basis for a dedicated coherent passive-radar mode within InteRFeX.
ER -