Evaluating commensal sensors for detecting objects of interest in the Low Earth Orbit

Abstract

With escalating congestion in the electromagnetic spectrum, commensal (passive) sensors provide a solution for detecting objects of interest without the need for bespoke transmitters. Through the characterization and spatial assessment of existing broadcast infrastructure, illuminators of opportunity constitute an abundance of transmitters and allow for wide-area commensal sensor coverage of objects in space. This paper describes work to evaluate the potential of a FM broadcast based commensal sensor to detect space objects in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Specifically, a planning tool has been developed to assess and simulate passes of objects such as the International Space Station (ISS). With reference to a MissionPlanning Tool (MPT), we describe some of the important system considerations for using commensal sensors as a ground-based sensor for LEO space observation.

Long‐time coherent integration based on intra‐partition range‐Doppler processing for passive bistatic radar

“…However, in the PBR system, the only parameters under the manipulation of the designer are CPI and receiver antenna gain. Furthermore, for low cost and small PBR, increasing the integration time T is the predominant scheme of improving SNR [32,33].…”