Janet Cathell, Sceptre Analytics; Anthony Holincheck, Sceptre Analytics
Keywords: open source, sda, conjunction analysis, graph database
Abstract:
Debris generating collisions are severe threats to space flight safety. Recently, McKnight et al. have called attention to specific objects in earth orbit that represent an enhanced threat to the space environment. We present a schema using graph database technology to assist in the identification of other objects that have a high probability of collision or are otherwise problematic. With the new USSF space fence contributing observations, full N-on-N conjunction analysis of the space catalog has the potential to generate millions of possible collision events per day. By collecting multiple days worth of potential events it becomes possible to perform analysis of which objects are frequent offenders. In an operational environment where orbital neighbors under active control maneuver away from one object and potentially into the path of others, it becomes important to know not only the threats to primary objects but also the threats to objects in nearby orbits. Graph databases allow for the collection of information in a set of nodes (space objects) and relationships (conjunctions). Modern graph databases easily scale to hold billions of nodes and relationships. Graph database queries allow for easy generation of the list of objects that most frequently have a potential collision with an object. Through relationship queries that are optimized in graph DBs, it becomes trivial to also identify the list of objects that are threats to objects that are threats, etc. An open source implementation of the schema with sample conjunction analysis data is presented.
Date of Conference: September 14-17, 2021
Track: SSA/SDA