Improved Minimum Detectable Velocity in Bistatic Space-Based Radar

Single orbit bistatic space-based radar (SBR) is composed of two radars in the same orbit. The characteristics of the clutter Doppler-angle spectrum of a single orbit bistatic SBR show that the slope of the mainbeam clutter spectrum is highly sensitive to the cone angles. Therefore, the minimum detectable velocity of the bistatic system is dependent on the cone angle. Then a new combined working mode of single-orbit bistatic SBR system was developed in which one radar will act as the transmitter and another as the receiver to improve detection performance for all angles. Simulation results by space-time adaptive processing verify the improved detection performance. The new design also reduces the average power of each radar system and the size and weight of the on-board solar array-battery system.