Jens Utzmann, Airbus Defence and Space; Stefan Kraft, European Space Agency
Keywords: SBSS, SST, SSA, SDA, telescope, space-based sensors
Abstract:
Airbus Defence and Space currently develops the Space-Based Optical Component (SBOC) instrument for ESA’s Space Safety Programme. SBOC shall serve as primary instrument for the corresponding VISDOMS (Verification of In-Situ Debris Optical Monitoring from Space) mission. Envisaged launch date is 2027.
Goals of the VISDOMS mission are:
Enhancement of the statistical knowledge about LEO objects down to 1 mm.
Space Surveillance and Tracking of objects in orbits beyond LEO (70 cm at GEO distance)
The SBOC instrument combines high detection performance, high astrometric accuracy and a large field of view. High framerate allows detection of fast objects. In order to cope with data volume, on-board image processing for data reduction is performed with the goal of identifying object candidates without losing any relevant information.
As part of the ESA Space Safety Programme, the Space Debris Office performs research and technology developments to ensure Europe’s capability of monitoring the space-related traffic and in particular space debris that may endanger the space infrastructure. This encompasses the understanding and assessment of the amount, size distribution and density of debris in various Earth orbits with a particular emphasis on Low Earth Orbits, the region where the highest density of manmade debris objects is found.
In order to extend the capabilities of ground-based observations using radar and optical technologies it is planned to place an optical telescope in a sunsynchronous Low Earth Orbit, which allows a permanent anti-sun viewing direction in order to maximize illumination of observed objects.
Main objectives of the current instrument Phase B activity can be summarized in the following three pillars:
Instrument preliminary definition including requirements consolidation and design maturation to achieve system SRR and PDR
De-risking of the on-board and on-ground image processing software
Development of a detection and processing chain demonstrator using simulated and real-world images and performing end-to-end tests of the image processing software
The consortium consists of Airbus Defence and Space (prime), TOPTEC (opto-mechanical design), CGI (software development) and ASRO (SW algorithms).
The paper will provide an overview of the objectives of the mission, system requirements, design of the instrument and image processing developments
Date of Conference: September 19-22, 2023
Track: Space Debris