Review on strategies of space-based optical space situational awareness

doi:10.23919/JSEE.2021.000099

Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics ›› 2021, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (5): 1152-1166.doi: 10.23919/JSEE.2021.000099

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Review on strategies of space-based optical space situational awareness

Yunpeng HU¹(), Kebo LI¹(), Yan’gang LIANG¹(), Lei CHEN^2,*()

¹ College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
² Unmanned Systems Research Center, National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology, Beijing 100071, China

Received:2020-04-03 Online:2021-10-18 Published:2021-11-04
Contact: Lei CHEN E-mail:huyunpeng14@nudt.edu.cn;likeboreal@nudt.edu.cn;liangyg@nudt.edu.cn;chenl@nudt.edu.cn
About author:|HU Yunpeng was born in 1992. He received his B.S. degree from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China. He received his M.S. degree from the National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China. He was a visiting Ph.D. student at McGill University, Canada, from December 2018 to December 2019. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree with the National University of Defense Technology. His current research interests are state estimation of multi-spacecraft/vehicle systems and the application of multi-agent system on the space situational awareness. E-mail: huyunpeng14@nudt.edu.cn||LI Kebo was born in 1986. He received his B.S. degree in aerospace engineering and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in flight vehicle design in aeronautical and astronautical science and technology from the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), Changsha, China, in 2008, 2010, and 2016, respectively. He is an associate professor at the Department of Applied Mechanics, College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, NUDT. His main research interests include missile guidance laws, spacecraft guidance, and control. E-mail: likeboreal@nudt.edu.cn||LIANG Yan’gang was born in 1979. He received his Ph.D. degree in aerospace science and technology from the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), China, in 2009. He is currently a professor at the Department of Applied Mechanics, College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, NUDT. His research interests include aerospace system analysis and simulation and effectiveness assessment. E-mail: liangyg@nudt.edu.cn||CHEN Lei was born in 1974. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China, in 1994, 1997, and 2000, respectively. Now, he is a professor in the Unmanned Systems Technology Research Center, National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology. His main research interests include flight vehicle dynamics, missile guidance and control, formation control, and space situational awareness. E-mail: chenl@nudt.edu.cn
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61690210, 61690213).

Abstract

Abstract:

Space-based optical (SBO) space surveillance has attracted widespread interest in the last two decades due to its considerable value in space situation awareness (SSA). SBO observation strategy, which is related to the performance of space surveillance, is the top-level design in SSA missions reviewed. The recognized real programs about SBO SAA proposed by the institutions in the U.S., Canada, Europe, etc., are summarized firstly, from which an insight of the development trend of SBO SAA can be obtained. According to the aim of the SBO SSA, the missions can be divided into general surveillance and space object tracking. Thus, there are two major categories for SBO SSA strategies. Existing general surveillance strategies for observing low earth orbit (LEO) objects and beyond-LEO objects are summarized and compared in terms of coverage rate, revisit time, visibility period, and image processing. Then, the SBO space object tracking strategies, which has experienced from tracking an object with a single satellite to tracking an object with multiple satellites cooperatively, are also summarized. Finally, this paper looks into the development trend in the future and points out several problems that challenges the SBO SSA.

Key words: space situation awareness (SSA), space-based space surveillance, space-based optical (SBO) observation strategy, general surveillance, space object tracking

Yunpeng HU, Kebo LI, Yan’gang LIANG, Lei CHEN. Review on strategies of space-based optical space situational awareness[J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2021, 32(5): 1152-1166.

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Program	Instrument orbit	Mission	Detector	Mass/kg
SBV MSX [15, 39]	898-km altitude, near SSO	Observing objects from LEO to beyond GEO	CCD (FOV: 5.6°×1.4°)	2812 for launch
SBSS Block-10 [18,19]	SSO	Observing objects from LEO to beyond GEO	Heritage from SBV	<1100 for launch
STARE A and B [21, 22]	Elliptical LEO	Detecting debris in LEO	COMS (FOV: 2.08°×1.67°)	<10 for launch
GSSAP [23]	Around GEO	Observing objects GEO	?	?
ORS-5 [24]	600-km altitude, EO	Scanning GEO belt	CCD	140 for satellite
XSS-10 [25]	800-km altitude, 39.8° inclination	Proximity observation of LEO objects	CCD	31 for satellite
MiTEx [26]	GEO	Proximity observation of GEO objects	?	225 for satellite
MOST [27]	830-km altitude, SSO	Measuring bright star	CCD (FOV: 0.23°×0.8°)	<100 for satellite
Sapphire [28]	786-km altitude, SSO	Observing objects from LEO to GEO	CCD (FOV: 1.4°×1.4°)	150 for satellite
NEOSSat [30]	780-km altitude, SSO	Observing GEO objects and near Earth asteroids	CCD (FOV: 0.85°×0.85°)	73 for satellite
ESA’s SBSS Demonstrator [36]	700-km altitude, SSO	Observing objects from LEO to beyond GEO	CMOS (FOV: 3°×3°) CCD (FOV: 2.74°×2.74°)	≤150 for launch

Strategy	Size of FOV	Mean visibility period/s	Mean visibility times
Passive	2°×6°	100?200	1?2
Passive	6°×2°	200?400	1?2
Leak proof (one fence)	2°×2°	400?500	1
Leak proof (one fence)	6°×2°	1400?1500	1
EO-based (7 r /d)	6°×2°	174	2?3
EO-based (10 r /d)	6°×2°	125	3?4

Review on strategies of space-based optical space situational awareness

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