Abstract
For Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) objects, space-based optical surveillance has advantages over regional ground surveillance in terms of both the timeliness and space coverage. However, space-based optical surveillance may only collect sparse and short orbit arcs, and thus make the autonomous arc association and orbit determination a challenge for new GEO objects without a priori orbit information. In this paper, a three-step approach tackling these two critical problems is proposed. First, under the near-circular orbit assumption, a multi-point optimal initial orbit determination (IOD) method is developed to improve the IOD convergence rate and the accuracy of the IOD solution with angles-only observations over a short arc. Second, the Lambert equation is applied to associate two independent short arcs in an attempt to improve accuracy of the single-arc IOD semi-major axis (SMA) with the use of virtual ranges between the optical sensor and GEO object. The key idea in the second step is to generate accurate ranges at observation epochs, which, along with the real angle data, are then used to achieve much improved SMA accuracy. The third step is basically the repeated application of the second step to three or more arcs. The high success rate of arc associations and accurate orbit determination using the proposed approach are demonstrated with simulated space-based angle data over short arcs, each being only 3 min. The results show that the proposed approach is able to determine the orbit of a new GEO at a three-dimensional accuracy of about 15 km from about 10 arcs, each having a length of about 3 min, thus achieving reliable cataloguing of uncatalogued GEO objects. The IOD and two-arc association methods are also tested with the real ground-based observations for both GEO and LEO objects of near-circular orbits, further validating the effectiveness of the proposed methods.
Highlights
It is fundamental for the safe use of near-Earth space to have the capability of routine, full space surveillance of space debris
The developed algorithm is tested with both simulated data of Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) objects observed by a simulated space-based telescope and real data from three ground-based optical sensors
The real data of GEO objects are observed by two ground-based optical sensors
Summary
It is fundamental for the safe use of near-Earth space to have the capability of routine, full space surveillance of space debris. For uncatalogued GEO objects detected by space-based optical surveillance sensors, the most critical steps in their autonomous initial cataloguing are the arc association and orbit determination using the very first few arcs. Tao et al presented a more accurate IOD method [25], namely the Laplace-LS orbit determination method, Aerospace 2021, 8, 298 whose estimation variance is close to the Cramer–Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) It can be used when the observation arc is very short or the sensor has limited accuracy. When the angle data of a GEO object is collected by a sensor on a low-altitude satellite platform, the autonomous arc association and orbit determination are generally more difficult. This paper proposes a three-step approach to achieve high-performance autonomous cataloging of newly detected GEO objects using the space-based short-arc angular data. Witihthththisisasassusummpptitoionn, a, nandd ggivivenenanagnuglualraorbosebrsveartviaotnios nast tawtotwepoocehpso, cahnsi,tearnatiivteersaetiavrechsoefarthche soefmtih-me asjeomr ai-xmisa(jSoMr Aax)i,s a,(ScManAb)e, ap,ecrafonrbmeepde,rifnorwmheicdh, iannwohbjiecchtiavneofubnjeccttiiovne ifsuunscetidotnoiscounssetdrationctohnesatnragiunlathrevaenlogcuitlyar ovf eolrobciittayl omfootribointa[l3m6].oTtihone o[3b6je].ctTivhee foubnjecctitoivneifsu: nction is:
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