Retroreflectors for space traffic management

Kurzfassung

Satellite laser ranging (SLR) is a mature technology for precise orbit determination of satellites equipped with retroreflectors. While SLR has a long history in space geodesy, precise orbits of satellites are also very important to calculate collision probabilities of satellites. Hence, an increasing number of satellites are getting equipped with retroreflectors for this purpose. This work presents a retroreflector design specifically dedicated to space traffic management (STM). To support widespread adoption, the focus is on modularity, compactness, standardized interfaces, and integration of additional STM-relevant functions. This highly modular design also allows the accommodation of additional polarization optics for polarimetric SLR in order to identify specific satellites in space. We address key steps toward in-orbit demonstration, including prototype manufacturing, characterization, and space qualification. Furthermore, we analyze the effects of manufacturing errors and thermal effects on the polarization properties of the retroreflector designs.