Track initiation in low-earth-orbit objects using statistical modeling of sparse observations

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate a new track initiation technique enabling the use of a low-cost radar system for low-Earth-orbit surveillance. This technique is based on a first association of observations with little ambiguity followed by a fast initial orbit determination. This study supports the feasibility of the system because this technique shows coverage of 84.4% within 6 d, with a combinatorial complexity kept under control when assessed in a realistic multitarget tracking context.