scholarly journals Analysis of Space Debris Orbit Prediction Using Angle and Laser Ranging Data from Two Tracking Sites under Limited Observation Environment

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1950
Author(s):  
Simon Kim ◽  
Hyung-Chul Lim ◽  
James. C. Bennett ◽  
Michael Lachut ◽  
Jung Hyun Jo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Correction Factor ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Orbit Prediction ◽  
Position Uncertainty ◽  
Laser Tracking ◽  
Application Method ◽  
Angle Data ◽  
Observation Environment

The global electro-optical (EO) and laser tracking sensor network was considered to investigate improvements to orbit prediction (OP) accuracy of space debris by combining angle and laser ranging data. However, it is worth noting that weather, schedule and visibility constraints can frequently limit the operations of such sensors, which may not result in sufficient tracking data for accurate OP. In this study, several 1-day OP results for low Earth orbit (LEO) space debris targets were demonstrated under a limited observation environment to verify the OP accuracy through the combination of angle and laser ranging data from two sites. For orbit determination (OD) processes, it was considered to analyze the OP accuracy by one site providing both 2–day arc angle data and 1-day arc laser ranging data, while the other was limited to 1-day arc angle data. In addition, the initial ballistic coefficient ( B C ) application method was proposed and implemented for the improvement of OD/OP accuracy, which introduces the modified correction factor depending on the drag coefficient. In the cases of combining the angle and laser ranging data, the OP results show the 3D position difference values are below 100 m root mean square (RMS) with small position uncertainty. This value satisfies the target OP accuracy for conjunction assessments and blind laser ranging (about 50–100 m at 1000 km altitude). The initial B C application method also shows better OP accuracy than the method without the correction factor.

Photon counting detector for space debris laser tracking and lunar laser ranging

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 755-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Prochazka ◽  
Jan Kodet ◽  
Josef Blazej ◽  
Georg Kirchner ◽  
Franz Koidl
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Photon Counting ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
Laser Tracking ◽  
Photon Counting Detector ◽  
Lunar Laser

scholarly journals APPARILLO: a fully operational and autonomous staring system for LEO debris detection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Wagner ◽  
Tim Clausen
Keyword(s):  
Orbit Determination ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Imaging System ◽  
Tracking System ◽  
Precise Orbit Determination ◽  
Ccd Camera ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Distance Measurements ◽  
Initial Orbit Determination

AbstractFor safe operation of active space crafts, the space debris population needs to be continuously scanned, to avoid collisions of active satellites with space debris. Especially the low Earth orbit (LEO) shows higher risks of collisions due to the highest density of orbital debris. Laser ranging stations can deliver highly accurate distance measurements of debris objects allowing precise orbit determination and more effective collision avoidance. However, a laser ranging station needs accurate a priori orbit information to track an orbital object. To detect and track unknown orbital objects in LEO, here, a passive optical staring system is developed for autonomous 24/7 operation. The system is weather-sealed and does not require any service to perform observations. To detect objects, a wide-angle imaging system with 10° field of view equipped with an astronomical CCD camera was designed and set up to continuously observe the sky for LEO objects. The system can monitor and process several passing objects simultaneously without limitations. It automatically starts an observation, processes the images and saves the 2D angular measurements of each object as equatorial coordinates in the TDM standard. This allows subsequent initial orbit determination and handover to a laser tracking system. During campaigns at twilight the system detected up to 36 objects per hour, with high detection efficiencies of LEO objects larger than 1 m3. It is shown that objects as small as 0.1 m3 can be detected and that the estimated precision of the measurements is about 0.05° or 7 × the pixel scale.

scholarly journals The Ad Hoc Back-End of the BIRALET Radar to Measure Slant-Range and Doppler Shift of Resident Space Objects

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 577
Author(s):  
Luca Schirru ◽  
Tonino Pisanu ◽  
Angelo Podda
Keyword(s):  
Doppler Shift ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Slant Range ◽  
Radar Systems ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Space Objects ◽  
Resident Space Objects ◽  
Potential Issue

Space debris is a term for all human-made objects orbiting the Earth or reentering the atmosphere. The population of space debris is continuously growing and it represents a potential issue for active satellites and spacecraft. New collisions and fragmentation could exponentially increase the amount of debris and so the level of risk represented by these objects. The principal technique used for the debris monitoring, in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) between 200 km and 2000 km of altitude, is based on radar systems. The BIRALET system represents one of the main Italian radars involved in resident space objects observations. It is a bi-static radar, which operates in the P-band at 410–415 MHz, that uses the Sardinia Radio Telescope as receiver. In this paper, a detailed description of the new ad hoc back-end developed for the BIRALET radar, with the aim to perform slant-range and Doppler shift measurements, is presented. The new system was successfully tested in several validation measurement campaigns, the results of which are reported and discussed.

Electromagnetic-launch-based method for cost-efficient space debris removal

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-106
Author(s):  
Chongyuan Hou ◽  
Yuan Yang ◽  
Yikang Yang ◽  
Kaizhong Yang ◽  
Xiao Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Orbit Space ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Electromagnetic Launch ◽  
Debris Removal ◽  
Significant Research ◽  
Electromagnetic Launcher ◽  
Cost Efficient

AbstractThe increase in space debris orbiting Earth is a critical problem for future space missions. Space debris removal has thus become an area of interest, and significant research progress is being made in this field. However, the exorbitant cost of space debris removal missions is a major concern for commercial space companies. We therefore propose the debris removal using electromagnetic launcher (DREL) system, a ground-based electromagnetic launch system (railgun), for space debris removal missions. The DREL system has three components: a ground-based electromagnetic launcher (GEML), suborbital vehicle (SOV), and mass of micrometer-scale dust (MSD) particles. The average cost of removing a piece of low-earth orbit space debris using DREL was found to be approximately USD 160,000. The DREL method is thus shown to be economical; the total cost to remove more than 2,000 pieces of debris in a cluster was only approximately USD 400 million, compared to the millions of dollars required to remove just one or two pieces of debris using a conventional space debris removal mission. By using DREL, the cost of entering space is negligible, thereby enabling countries to remove their space debris in an affordable manner.

Could future COP talks help to de-junk near-earth space?

Soundings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (78) ◽  
pp. 81-85
Author(s):  
Susmita Mohanty
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Earth Space ◽  
Near Earth Space ◽  
Earth Environment ◽  
Outer Space Treaty ◽  
Earth Observation Data ◽  
Earth’S Climate

Space debris has reached alarming proportions and is growing at a frightening pace, because of the expanding number of satellites circulating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), designed to increase global Internet coverage and provide earth observation data. LEO satellites are now being launched in mega-constellations, including by Elon Musk's company SpaceX. It is time to completely overhaul the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which was not designed to deal with current problems. The COP forum should therefore include the near-earth environment within its concept of the earth's climate, enabling the UN to acknowledge, as a collective, the growing menace of human-made debris in near-earth space, and, in partnership with the UN-Outer Space Affairs Office (UN-OOSA), call for a new declaration on LEO.

scholarly journals Developments of Space Debris Laser Ranging Technology Including the Applications of Picosecond Lasers

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 10080
Author(s):  
Haifeng Zhang ◽  
Mingliang Long ◽  
Huarong Deng ◽  
Shaoyu Cheng ◽  
Zhibo Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Pulse Repetition Frequency ◽  
Average Power ◽  
Picosecond Laser ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Telescope Array ◽  
High Pulse ◽  
First Time ◽  
532 Nm

Debris laser ranging (DLR) is receiving considerable attention as an accurate and effective method of determining and predicting the orbits of space debris. This paper reports some technologies of DLR, such as the high pulse repetition frequency (PRF) laser pulse, large-aperture telescope, telescope array, multi-static stations receiving signals. DLR with a picosecond laser at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory is also presented. A few hundred laps of space debris laser-ranging measurements have been made. A double-pulse picosecond laser with an average power of 4.2 W, a PRF of 1 kHz, and a wavelength of 532 nm has been implemented successfully in DLR, it’s the first time that DLR technology has reached a ranging precision at the sub-decimeter level. In addition, the characteristics of the picosecond-pulse-width laser transmission with the advantages of transmission in laser ranging were analyzed. With a mode of the pulse-burst picosecond laser having high average power, the DLR system has tracked small debris with a radar cross-section (RCS) of 0.91 m2 at a ranging distance up to 1726.8 km, corresponding to an RCS of 0.1 m2 at a distance of 1000 km. These works are expected to provide new technologies to further improve the performance of DLR.

Experimentation of Diffuse Reflection Laser Ranging of Space Debris

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 0908001 ◽  
Author(s):  
李语强 Li Yuqiang ◽  
李祝莲 Li Zhulian ◽  
伏红林 Fu Honglin ◽  
郑向明 Zheng Xiangming ◽  
何少辉 He Shaohui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Diffuse Reflection ◽  
Laser Ranging

53 cm binocular telescope high repetition frequency space debris laser ranging system

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 729001
Author(s):  
李祝莲 Li Zhulian ◽  
张海涛 Zhang Haitao ◽  
李语强 Li Yuqiang ◽  
伏红林 Fu Honglin ◽  
翟东升 Zhai Dongsheng
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Repetition Frequency ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
Frequency Space ◽  
High Repetition

scholarly journals Dynamic Modelling Transformations for the Low Earth Orbit Satellite Particulate Environment

1991 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 37-40
Author(s):  
J.A.M. McDonnell ◽  
K. Sullivan ◽  
S.F. Green ◽  
T.J. Stevenson ◽  
D.H. Niblett
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Model ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Residue Analysis ◽  
Dynamic Modelling ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Earth Orbit ◽  
Natural Orbital ◽  
Low Earth Orbit Satellite ◽  
Chemical Residue ◽  
Particle Velocities

AbstractA simple dynamic model to investigate the relative fluxes and particle velocities on a spacecraft’s different faces is presented. The results for LDEF are consistent with a predominantly interplanetary origin for the larger particulates, but a sizable population of orbital particles with sizes capable of penetrating foils of thickness <30μm. Data from experiments over the last 30 years do not show the rise in flux expected if these were space debris. The possibility of a population of natural orbital particulates awaits confirmation from chemical residue analysis.

Laser ranging system and measurement analysis for space debris with high repetition rate

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhibo Wu ◽  
Haifeng Zhang ◽  
Wendong Meng ◽  
Pu Li ◽  
Huarong Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Repetition Rate ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
High Repetition Rate ◽  
Laser Ranging ◽  
High Repetition ◽  
Measurement Analysis
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