Setup of an optical system for autonomous surveillance of orbital objects

Abstract

As space becomes more and more crowded, the probability of collisions between space debris and active satellites or manned space missions increases. Active space debris removal missions are being planned to remove the most dangerous objects from earth orbit, however the planning of such missions requires many properties of the target object to be known. Ground-based observations might be able to yield these properties. In this work, a simple mobile observation system is assembled and programmed to perform passive optical tracking. The final configuration of the system is capable of performing measurements, tracking and creating light curves. It becomes clear that the tracking accuracy of the mobile system is limited primarily by the pointing precision. Influences seen in the light curves such as the additional atmospheric attenuation for larger zenith angles can be eliminated if necessary by calibrations, although it is unclear whether the obtained light curves can be used for fingerprinting. The capabilities of the system are proved by evaluating the rotation period of Cosmos-2375. Through the use of a CMOS sensor with Bayer filter, the reflected signal of the observation target can be measured at three different wavelengths. Although no reliable results could be drawn from the multispectral observations in this thesis, the recurring Signal peak that is solely visible in the red color channel of the observation of Cosmos-2375 warrant further investigation. An inexpensive, simple system such as the presented one may increase the accuracy of future space debris observations.