While less than the resolution of large optical telescopes, the amount of radiation that can be gathered with the Northern Cross is much greater, proportional to the mirror surface of approximately 27400 square meters.

[7] The work is focused on studying the amplification and filtering of signals between the LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) output and the analog-to-digital converter input for the SKA.

[10][11] The BEST project was divided in three parts:[9] There is an ongoing effort to use the 32-meter dish as a receiver for radar-based tracking of artificial satellites and space debris in Earth orbit.

The measurements obtain through such a system can be used to determine object radar cross-section, time of peak occurrence, polarization ratio, bistatic doppler shift and target rotation.

In one of the carried-out tests, Yevpatoria-Medicina system was able to detect an object with an estimated radar cross-section of 0.0002 square meters, which was created by the Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 satellite collision.

The system can also function as a multistatic radar using the 32-meter receivers at Medicina, the Noto Radio Observatory in Italy and the Ventspils Starptautiskais Radioastronomijas Centrs in Latvia.

[15] The Northern Cross radio telescope has also been part of space debris tracking studies, utilized as a multiple-beam receiver for a bistatic radar system.