A new concept of bi-static radar for space debris detection and monitoring

Bianchi, G.; Naldi, G.; Fiocchi, F.; Lizia, P. Di; Bortolotti, C.; Mattana, A.; Maccaferri, A.; Magro, Alessio; Roma, Mauro; Schiaffino, Marco; Cattani, A.; Cutajar, D.; Pupillo, G.; Perini, Federico; Facchini, Luca; Lama, L.; Morsiani, M.; Montaruli, Marco Felice

doi:10.1109/iceccme52200.2021.9590991

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…BIRALES is a bi-static radar [5] [6] [7] which uses the North-South branch of the Northern Cross radio telescope (Fig. 1) located in Medicina (BO) as receiving antenna (RX).…”

Section: Birales Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

The new transmitting antenna for BIRALES

Bianchi

2023

Materials Research Proceedings

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Abstract. In the last decades the increasing Resident Space Objects (RSOs) population is fostering many Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) initiatives, which are currently based on the use of ground sensors. These can be distinguished in optical, laser and radar and categorized in tracking and survey sensors. In particular, the survey radars allow to determine the orbit of both catalogued and uncatalogued objects. Italy contributes to the European SST (EUSST) activities with the BIstatic RAdar for LEo Survey (BIRALES), whose transmitter is the Radio Frequency Transmitter (TRF), located at the Italian Joint Test Range of Salto di Quirra in Sardinia, and whose receiver is a portion of the Northern Cross Radio Telescope, located at the Medicina Radio Astronomical Station, near Bologna. The current sensor configuration is undergoing an upgrade process, including the receiver field of view extension and a new transmitter station. The purpose of the work is to present the new transmitting antenna of BIRALES, showing its technological progress and the potential for the monitoring of space debris. The final objective is to produce a high technological radar to improve the performance of the EUSST sensors network. In particular, the aim is to increase both the number of detectable objects and the sensitivity to detect fragments of a few centimetres up to an altitude of 2,000 km, with a remarkable improvement of orbit determination procedures and quality. The transmitting antenna has been designed to be very flexible for any type of observations, modifying its parameters depending on the observation needs and according to the service to offer (monitoring of fragments, re-entry or for collision avoidance). The work presents the system architecture and the transmitting antenna structure, and the performance are assessed through numerical simulations.

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“…BIRALES is a bi-static radar [5] [6] [7] which uses the North-South branch of the Northern Cross radio telescope (Fig. 1) located in Medicina (BO) as receiving antenna (RX).…”

Section: Birales Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

The new transmitting antenna for BIRALES

Bianchi

2023

Materials Research Proceedings

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“…These services rely on data collected from ground-based sensors, including optical telescopes (offering precise angular data) [9], radars (providing both angles and range or Doppler shift measurements) [10], and lasers (supplying exceptionally accurate range measurements) [11]. In particular, survey radars play a critical role in characterizing the orbits of unidentified objects upon their initial detection [12][13][14]. In addition to the above-mentioned services, a crucial role is played by maneuver detection [15] and proximity operations monitoring [16,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conjunction Analysis Software Suite for Space Surveillance and Tracking

Bonaccorsi,

Montaruli,

Di Lizia

et al. 2024

Aerospace

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The increasing number of objects in Earth orbit has encouraged the development of space surveillance and tracking (SST) applications. A critical aspect of SST is the identification and characterization of close encounters between pairs of space objects. The present work introduces a tool for the analysis of conjunctions, consisting of several modules. The first module, which has been shown to greatly speed up the process, employs a series of geometric and temporal filters to shorten the list of potential colliding pairs. The remaining objects are then propagated to compute important parameters such as time of closest approach (TCA), miss distance (MD), and probability of collision (PoC), the latter using three different methods. When a conjunction assessment returns an MD or a PoC that exceeds predefined alert thresholds, the algorithm enables the planning of an impulsive collision avoidance maneuver (CAM) at specific maneuver epochs. CAM candidates are determined using an analytical Keplerian approach, with the goal of achieving the desired PoC or MD. The user can then verify the performance of a specific candidate through perturbed propagation, and the MD and PoC are recalculated after the maneuver to ensure that they meet the desired thresholds. In conclusion, this paper evaluates the performance of the tool using synthetic and real data, providing valuable insights into its effectiveness.

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An orbit determination software suite for Space Surveillance and Tracking applications

Montaruli,

Purpura,

Cipollone

et al. 2024

CEAS Space J

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The growth of both operational satellites and orbital debris is creating the requirement for more robust Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST)-related applications. These systems necessarily must leverage ground-based sensors (optical and radar) to realise higher performance solutions. In this context, the European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking (EUSST) consortium groups European national agencies and institutions, and is in charge of carrying out the following services: conjunction analysis, fragmentation analysis and re-entry prediction, and the Italian Air Force is in charge of the latter two. In this framework, the Italian SST Operational Centre (ISOC) has recently upgraded its system to the ISOC Suite, an integrated platform providing multiple functions and services in the SST domain. This paper presents the orbit determination functions provided by the novel ISOC Suite. First, a statistical index is computed to assess the measurements correlation to a catalogued object. If it is successful, the object predicted orbit is refined through measurements according either to batch or sequential filters; otherwise these are used to refine a first estimate of the target orbital state computed according to dedicated methodologies. After the presentation of the prototypal software architecture, the ISOC Suite performance are assessed and discussed both in terms of synthetic and real data.

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A new concept of bi-static radar for space debris detection and monitoring

Cited by 7 publications

References 4 publications

The new transmitting antenna for BIRALES

The new transmitting antenna for BIRALES

Conjunction Analysis Software Suite for Space Surveillance and Tracking

An orbit determination software suite for Space Surveillance and Tracking applications

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