Leif Humbert, German Aerospace Center, Institute of Technical Physics, Thomas Hasenohr, German Aerospace Center, Institute of Technical Physics, Daniel Hampf, German Aerospace Center, Institute of Technical Physics, Wolfgang Riede, German Aerospace Center, Institute of Technical Physics
Keywords: LEO, space debris, orbital debris, Space Situational Awareness, SSA, laser ranging, ground station
Abstract:
An increasing number of space debris and the rise of mega constellations as well as the deployment of small cost efficient satellites are a growing concern for space faring nations and their missions. Hence, a tight network of worldwide stations to support maintenance of catalogues for various tasks such as space surveillance tracking and space traffic management will significantly increase the reliability and availability of the collected data and therefore the safety of missions. A promising concept are transportable laser ranging stations in order to increase the number of observing stations and hence the coverage of the sky. Built and tested on a building test site they can be deployed to a desired site for operation. High energy laser with short pulses provide accurate ranging data to objects in space both cooperative and uncooperative, e.g. objects with a retroreflector and without one. This work introduces the progress of a transportable laser ranging station, of a Surveillance, Tracking and Ranging Container (STAR-C), built into a 20ft ISO container.
Date of Conference: September 19-22, 2017
Track: Poster