Results of SMARTnet’s First Observation Campaign covering the Geostationary Ring over the Pacific Ocean

Abstract

SMARTnet is conceptualised to be a worldwide network of passive-optical telescope stations. They are operated by the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), together with partners who operate their own telescope station and provide tracklets. DLR’s second telescope station is located at Mt Kent near Toowoomba in Australia. For this study, we are using its 25 cm-telescope (SMART-02-B-KENT) for survey observations, with a field of view of about 2.3°. In the stage of observation planning, we apply a classical survey strategy with two pairs of declination stripes. These stripes are at four fixed right ascension coordinates, two west of the Earth’s shadow and two east of it. The height of each stripe is set such that the geostationary ring is covered. The object detection and astrometry are performed at the station, the resulting tracklets are transferred to SMARTnet’s Backbone Catalogue of Relational Debris Information (BACARDI) algorithm suite, which includes tracklet association and orbit determination. The aim of our analysis is to display the current object population in the geostationary ring above the Pacific region. This includes the objects known in publicly available catalogues in combination with the collection of newly found objects, which are not present in such catalogues. Finally, we will identify optimisation possibilities to improve observations in the future.