High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Project Space Track was a research and development project of the US Air Force, to create a system for tracking all artificial earth satellites and space probes, domestic and foreign. It was started at the Air Force Cambridge Research Center in Bedford, Massachusetts (now Hanscom Air Force Base) shortly after the launch of Sputnik I. Observations were obtained from some 150 sensors worldwide by 1960 and regular orbital predictions were issued to the sensors and interested parties. Space Track was the only organization that used observations from all types of sources: radar, optical, radio, and visual. All unclassified observations were shared with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. In 1961, the system was declared operational and assigned to the new 1st Aerospace Surveillance and Control Squadron as part of NORAD`s Space Detection and Tracking System SPADATS.