Spaceborne Radar Sensor Architecture for Debris Detection and Tracking

Abstract

This article delves into a novel spaceborne radar payload transceiver for augmenting space-based monitoring capabilities for near-Earth space situational awareness. The sensor complex data hypercube structure and sensor timing hierarchies in surveillance mode are addressed along with a suitable low pulse repetition frequency range and range-rate search with a pause while scan collection strategy. A bespoke active electronically scanned array-based Pulse Doppler Radar sensor in the Ka-band is then defined in order to cope with the significant Doppler stress characterizing a burst of echoes from hypervelocity debris targets. Before feeding the onboard Bayesian tracker, the complex data hypercube is processed by means of a Doppler filter bank including pulse compression in cascade with a constant false alarm rate-like block.