Ravi teja Nallapu, University of Arizona/ SpaceTREx; Jekan Thangavelautham, Univ. of Arizona/SpaceTREx
Keywords: Constellation Design, Meteor Localization, Orbital Simulation, Multi-Spacecraft Localization algorithms
Abstract:
Earth is constantly bombarded with material from space. Most of the natural material end up being dust grains that litter the surface of Earth, but larger bodies are known to impact every few decades. The most recent large impact was Chelyabinsk which set of a 500-kiloton explosion which was 40 times that of the Hiroshima nuclear explosion. Apart from the meteor is the growing threat of space assets deorbiting.
It is critical to have a constellation of satellites to autonomously lookout for space threats such as falling meteors and reentering space debris. By using multiple spacecraft it is possible to perform multipoint observation of the event. Through multipoint observation it is possible to triangulate position, velocity and acceleration of the observed object. The detection, tracking and analysis of these objects all need to be performed autonomously. Our approach now is relying several vision algorithms including blob-detection, feature detection and neural network-based image segment classification.
For this multipoint observation to occur, it requires multiple spacecraft to coordinate their, actions particularly fixating on the space observation target. Furthermore, communication and coordination is needed for bringing new satellites into observation view and removing other satellites that have lost their view. This process of adding and removing spacecraft needs to occur seamlessly for the observation data to be collected without any challenges.
In this paper, we analyze the state of the art of this observation technology and perform a detailed design of its implementation. Through this study, we estimate the error estimates on position, velocity and acceleration determination under space-like lighting conditions. We presume use of low to mid-tier cameras for the spacecraft. In particular, we will be interested in algorithms that can be readily be implemented on FPGA board. We then analyze the implications of multiple spacecraft and see how the estimates will be improved with enough crafts. With a critical number of spacecraft, we hope to place a bound on the errors and then determine what else can be done to impact the overall capabilities.
In this study, we first perform STK simulations studies, followed by laboratory implementation on representative hardware and perform a series of laboratory experiments to validate the concept. At the end of the study, we will have several algorithms, their performance under nominal and off-nominal scenarios and pathway forward to advance the algorithms towards real-time testing of real situation under orbit.
Date of Conference: September 17-20, 2019
Track: Space-Based Assets