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A new type of radar. How will photonic radar behave in outer space? What will be challenges faced by such radar ? How will it differ from pesa on Soyuz-MS ? Will such radar be termed as space weapon and what resolution will such radar provide for earth observation ?

Isrorian
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  • Not real new...was in use in the Shuttle program for years. You can see some examples (including a picture of one in use) in the answer to this question http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/10520/docking-in-orbit – Organic Marble Jul 23 '16 at 14:44
  • It seems more like the laser rangefinder to me and LIDAR is what used by automated robot(tesla) to follow a path or to change a lane or uav to land – Isrorian Jul 23 '16 at 14:57
  • That piece of equipment's formal name was the Handheld LIDAR. – Organic Marble Jul 23 '16 at 15:30
  • Is their a difference btw laser rangefinder or laser radar here? – Isrorian Jul 23 '16 at 15:51
  • Yes. Rangefinder only measures the distance to a single point. LIDAR scans across a grid and builds a picture made up of many distance measurements. – Hobbes Jul 23 '16 at 18:07
  • Is there a diff btw laser radar and LIDAR – Isrorian Jul 23 '16 at 18:11
  • LIDAR is laser radar. – kim holder Jul 23 '16 at 18:17
  • lidar is not photonic radar(here). I know what lidar is. I actually wanted to use it in something(another time). My question is based on this tech – Isrorian Jul 23 '16 at 18:25
  • [Tech]( http://rbth.com/defence/2016/01/21/with-new-radar-the-pak-fa-fighter-can-detect-any-stealht-aircraft_561225 – Isrorian Jul 23 '16 at 18:38
  • http://rbth.com/defence/2016/01/21/with-new-radar-the-pak-fa-can-detech-any-stealth-aircraft_561275 – Isrorian Jul 23 '16 at 19:15
  • It is unclear what that article is referring to. The link on radar in your question reads like it is talking about lidar. The link provided by Organic Marble shows how it has been used in space, and the answer by Hobbes indicates it limitations. If you are talking about something else, you need to clearly explain that in your question. Note that long answers are rarely given for short questions as they don't show effort on the part of the asker. – kim holder Jul 23 '16 at 20:29
  • Whole question is about photon+microwave radar which operate at 10+ GHZ frequency. It never mention lidar. – Isrorian Jul 24 '16 at 03:15
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    Photonic radar refers to a radar that uses optical signal processing. – Hobbes Jul 26 '16 at 10:42
  • Both links in this question are now BROKEN! – uhoh Nov 09 '18 at 15:00

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Edit: I misunderstood the question, here's another attempt.

Photonic radar refers to a radar system that uses optical signal processing.

A laser produces a finely-tuned digital signature, which is converted into a radio frequency wave and transmitted from the radar antenna. The returning wave is also converted via laser into a digital signal free from “jitter”. The cables are replaced with fibre optics – it is cheaper, lighter and crucially – it has less interference. It’s very accurate.”

In other words, the advantage is you have less noise to deal with. That gives an increase in range and precision.

But in space, it has the same issues as ordinary radar: it's useful for distances that are common on Earth, but for distances common in space you need huge amounts of power.

Hobbes
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