Abstract
The task of tracking cooperative satellites equipped with laser retroreflectors, by means of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), is an issue well described in the literature. The follow-up movement of the ground-based transceiver telescope behind an orbital object is based on the positional ephemeris data. The problem of controlling the follow-up motion of the telescope’s mount mostly in the configuration in this case boils down to the interpolation of the positional ephemeris data of the orbital object, which is the information input vector for the motion control system of the orthogonal and non-coupled axes of the propulsion system. In the case of tracking and determining the position of uncooperative objects (not equipped with retroreflectors), for which we can include rocket bodies and fragmentary elements, the task of keeping track of them becomes complex. The positional uncertainty of the ephemeris of uncooperative objects obtained mainly by means of survey radar acquisition requires the use of innovative solutions and complex control systems that enable the effective implementation of the tracking process. This paper presents innovative methods for the active control loop used in the SLR technique, consisting of dynamic motion corrections based on the passive optical acquisition with object recognition and analysis of the photon trace scattered from an orbital object.
Highlights
Centrum Badań Kosmicznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk (CBK PAN), Bartycka 18A, 00-716 Warszawa, Poland; Abstract: The task of tracking cooperative satellites equipped with laser retroreflectors, by means of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), is an issue well described in the literature
This paper proposed solutions to improve the effectiveness of measuring the distance to the orbital objects with uncertain orbits using the active control loop implemented at the Borowiec SLR station
Cooperative objects are only a small subset of the space debris population, so these objects should be treated as uncooperative targets in terms of the measurements based on the Two-Line Elements set files (TLEs) ephemeris
Summary
The laser ranging measurements of an orbital object are carried out by using a pulsed laser source, as a measuring beam emitter with the specified beam divergence θ ∈ (500 , 8000 ), and a photon detector placed in the main focus of the receiving telescope operating mostly in the Az/El configuration (Figure 1). The laser range measurement is based on the emission of a laser pulse of known length (x ∗ 1 ps, x ∗ 1 ns) at the tSTART moment of time, in the direction of the orbital object where some of the photons are scattered from the object’s surface. The tSTOP moment of time, when the returning scattered photons are acquired by the photon detector, ends the measuring procedure. The task of the telescope’s movement control is to transform the ephemeris information ζ κ about the position of the tracked object κ into the follow-up movement of the telescope’s mount. The accuracy of the tracking process (mapping the motion of the telescope’s mount) directly depends on the control process and the accuracy of the drive system and intermediate mechanics [15]
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