Space Debris Measurement Using Joint Mid-Latitude and Equatorial Optical Observations

Abstract

A system for orbital object monitoring is analyzed, based on a mid-latitude and an equatorial observatory. The enhancements with respect to the use of a single telescope located at mid-latitude, for space debris detection and tracking are highlighted in terms of surveying volume, object identification, and orbital determination accuracy. The need to improve observation capabilities in monitoring and cataloguing such kinds of objects is constantly growing, due to the constant increase of operative satellites and space debris in both geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) and low Earth orbit (LEO) regions. After the considerations on the feasibility of the whole system, an overview of the observatories' design is sketched, on the basis of previous Italian experience in space debris observation, and taking into account constraints imposed by the instrumentation. In particular the main characteristics of components, software for image analysis and observation methodologies are analyzed and a possible configuration is given, based on the ALMASCOPE observatory realized by the Space Robotics Group at the University of Bologna. This observatory was used for the 2010 test campaign carried out from the Broglio Space Center in Kenya

Orbit Determination of Resident Space Objects Using the P-Band Mono-Beam Receiver of the Sardinia Radio Telescope

“…The covariance matrix is estimated by assuming reasonable values for the standard deviations in position (σ p ) and velocity (σ v ) in the RSW reference frame, building a diagonal covariance in RSW reference frame, and expressing this matrix in the ECI reference frame. If we indicate withĈ RSW t 0 the covariance matrix expressed in the RSW reference frame, wherê (6) and σ R p = σ W p = 0.1 km, σ S p = 0.2 km, σ…”

“…Survey and tracking of objects in Earth orbit is one area where the European Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) Support Framework and the European Space Agency (ESA) Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programmes are active, and the implementation of a European network of sensors represents one of the main objectives [2]. Consequently, Europe also can count on a large network of optical [6], laser and radar sensors. Focusing on radars, an important system available 24 hours a day for observations in survey mode is the Grand Réseau Adapté à la Veille Spatiale (GRAVES), a military continuous wave (CW) bi-static phased array radar operating at 143.05 MHz, located in Dijon (France) [7].…”

LEO Object’s Light-Curve Acquisition System and Their Inversion for Attitude Reconstruction

“…In recent years, the Sapienza Space System and Space Surveillance (S5Lab) gained experience in satellite systems manufacturing and launches, and in the space debris field [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], operating networks [19][20][21][22][23][24][25] of completely remote optical observatories, which are able to observe, catalogue and identify a huge number of objects both known that unknown, thanks to which it was possible to refine the correlation between light curves and attitude dynamics of the observed debris. For these reasons, every methodology discussed in this paper is strongly based on a great number of observations, which makes it possible to obtain reliable and solid results.…”

Observation of LEO Objects Using Optical Surveillance Facilities: The Geographic Aspect

“…However, the issue of the best OSF location in order to improve the effectiveness of LEO object observations, that is, observability of LEO objects (or visibility at a specific time using a given OSF) is still underexplored. Techniques for simulation modelling of flybys within the OSF field of view (FOV) for a LEO object in an artificially created orbit (Piergentili et al, 2014), as well as for several thousand of real objects over a long period of time (Vananti et al, 2013), have been deployed to deal with the above problem. It is evident that the best results of such experiments can be achieved by performing modelling for the entire population of known LEO objects at once, regardless their considerable number (more than 15,000 registered objects).…”