On preparing UKIRT to observe satellites and orbital debris

In 2013 the process of developing an Orbital Debris and Satellite observation capability for the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope was initiated. This process involved the modification of various operational aspects of the observatory. After a year of implementing the modifications the observatory was capable of providing deep space observations of orbital debris and satellites in a queue based format. The telescope has been operating with this capability for the past 2.5 years and has generated terabytes of observational data on orbital debris and satellites that are in the GEO satellite belt distributed across the Pacific Ocean.