# GRAVES (system)

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**GRAVES** (French: ***Grand Réseau Adapté à la Veille Spatiale***) is a French [radar](/source/Radar)-based space [surveillance system](/source/Surveillance_system), akin to the [United States Space Force](/source/United_States_Space_Force) [Space Surveillance System](/source/Air_Force_Space_Surveillance_System).[1]

## Space surveillance system

Using radar measurements, the [French Air and Space Force](/source/French_Air_and_Space_Force) is able to spot [satellites](/source/Satellite) orbiting the Earth and determine their [orbit](/source/Orbit). The GRAVES system took 15 years to develop, and became operational in November, 2005.[2] GRAVES is also a contributing system to the [European Space Agency](/source/European_Space_Agency)'s [Space Situational Awareness Programme](/source/Space_Situational_Awareness_Programme) (SSA).[3]

GRAVES is a [bistatic radar](/source/Bistatic_radar) system using [Doppler](/source/Doppler_radar) and directional information to derive the orbits of the detected satellites. Its operating frequency is 143.050 MHz, with the transmitter being located on a decommissioned airfield near [Broye-lès-Pesmes](/source/Broye-l%C3%A8s-Pesmes) at [47.3480°N 5.5151°E](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?params=47.3480_N_5.5151_E) and the receiver at a former missile site near [Revest-du-Bion](/source/Revest-du-Bion) on the [Plateau d'Albion](/source/Plateau_d'Albion) at [44.0715°N 5.5346°E](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?params=44.0715_N_5.5346_E). Data processing and generation of satellite [orbital elements](/source/Orbital_elements) is performed at the Balard Air Complex in Paris, [48.835°N 2.280°E](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?params=48.835_N_2.280_E).[4]

## References

1. ["Les incroyables pépites méconnues de l'Onera"](http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/les-incroyables-pepites-meconnues-de-l-onera-483392.html). LA TRIBUNE. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 2015-06-12.

1. ["GRAVES Sourcebook"](http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/track/graves.pdf). FAS. Retrieved 2015-05-06.

1. ["Europe's Radar Space Surveillance and Tracking Sensors"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150618152734/https://sst.ssa.esa.int/cwbi/general/radar_sens.xhtml). [ESA](/source/ESA). Archived from [the original](https://sst.ssa.esa.int/cwbi/general/radar_sens.xhtml) on 2015-06-18. Retrieved 2015-05-03.

1. Shaun O'Sullivan, G8VPG (September 2013). "Detecting Meteors with Radio". *Radio User*. **8** (9): 46–49. [ISSN 1748-8117](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1748-8117)

## External links

- [Official website](https://web.archive.org/web/20150618205640/http://www.onera.fr/dcps/graves/)
- [\[1\]](http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/track/graves.pdf)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [GRAVES (system)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRAVES_(system)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRAVES_(system)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.