Launch of several thousands of small spacecraft as part of satellite groups of various companies (OneWeb, SpaceX, etc.) is expected in the coming years. They will significantly increase the “population” in the low-orbit region. The spacecraft are designed mainly to provide telecommunications and remote sensing of Earth from space. They have a short lifetime. The use of high-speed sCMOS (scientific complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) detectors in combination with medium diameter optical telescopes provides high temporal resolution, which allows us to get detailed brightness light curves and to estimate the state of small spacecraft. We present the technique and results of photometric measurements of small spacecraft obtained with the 1.6-meter AZT-33IK telescope of ISTP SB RAS Sayan Solar Observatory. Photometric measurements are shown to be an important source of information at various operational stages of satellites.
The problem of the amount and characteristics of space debris in the vicinity of orbits of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is of significant interest from the viewpoint of safe operation of these systems. Attempts have repeatedly been made to search for space debris fragments in a given region of orbits, but have not led to cataloging such objects. Only in 2018, eight space objects were discovered which were not related to active or inactive spacecraft or their launch elements. Photometrical and trajectory observations with optical telescopes are practically the only source of information about characteristics of such objects. The paper presents a summary of the design features and technical characteristics of the new AZT-33VM telescope. We describe a technique for determining orbital parameters of non-cataloged space debris from optical measurements. We report the results of photometric observations of a space object, detected in the vicinity of orbits of the Global Navigation Satellite System GLONASS.
Launch of several thousands of small spacecraft as part of satellite groups of various companies (OneWeb, SpaceX, etc.) is expected in the coming years. They will significantly increase the “population” in the low-orbit region. The spacecraft are designed mainly to provide telecommunications and remote sensing of Earth from space. They have a short lifetime. The use of high-speed sCMOS (scientific complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) detectors in combination with medium diameter optical telescopes provides high temporal resolution, which allows us to get detailed brightness light curves and to estimate the state of small spacecraft. We present the technique and results of photometric measurements of small spacecraft obtained with the 1.6-meter AZT-33IK telescope of ISTP SB RAS Sayan Solar Observatory. Photometric measurements are shown to be an important source of information at various operational stages of satellites.
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