Rebecca McFadden, Deimos Space UK; Elisabeth Petersen, Deimos Space UK Ltd.; Ann-Sofie Bak Nielsen, Deimos Space UK Ltd.; Jaime Nomen Torres, DEIMOS Engineering and Systems
Keywords: sensor, optical, wide field-of-view, software, image processing, space domain awareness
Abstract:
LCLEOSEN-B aims to develop and demonstrate a novel optical space surveillance system, capable of full-sky coverage and near-real-time image processing. A full-sky coverage system has the key advantage of allowing users to observe objects without prior knowledge of their orbits, leading to many use cases such as tracking new and lost objects, fragmentation events and objects with non-Keplerian motion. This project continues development of the Low-Cost Low-Earth Orbit Surveillance Sensor Array (LCLEOSEN), a Phase A project for the UK Space Agency. Taking this work forward to Phase B raises the system TRL and crucially demonstrates cross-correlation of object tracks across multiple fields of view (i.e. multiple telescopes). The LCLEOSEN design is based on an extensive study of optical tracking for LEO objects. It includes a novel surveillance method using an array of collocated fixed Field of View (FOV) telescopes and the development of a dedicated image-processing software. LCLEOSEN has been designed to target a similar market as conventional radar systems, offering a reduction of the cost per sensor while maintaining comparable performance.
The Phase A study provided a proof of concept for the system including the image processing pipeline, an exploration of the systems use cases and a method for site selection. The project also included the building and testing of a prototype system, including a single telescope and initial development of the image processing capabilities. The Phase A prototype system consisted of a single telescope deployed at the Deimos Sky Survey observatory in Puertollano, Spain. To achieve the aim of minimising the overall system cost, this system was developed using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware components. These components include a wide FoV lens, a high-sensitivity CMOS sensor, a dedicated image processing unit for each telescope in the array, and a mount and dome for the array. Due to the large volume of data that can be gathered in a single night, the image processing unit is designed to operate in near real time to prevent a backlog of images. The telescopes are arranged in a grid pattern, with a slight overlap in the field of views to prevent coverage gaps. Phase-B has involved the development and deployment of a second prototype, which allows the development of the full system capabilities, including the cross-correlation of object tracks between different fields of view and the auto-correlation to catalogues to track false positive and negative observations. Phase-B also aims to improve the image processing performance to meet the near-real-time objective.
This paper covers plans for further sensor development including deployment and integration of the second sensor, improvements to the dedicated image processing chain and an extensive test campaign to validate cross-correlation capabilities. Results from these experiments and the systems developed will highlight the benefits of low-cost optical sensors for full-sky coverage and space domain awareness.
Date of Conference: September 19-22, 2023
Track: SDA Systems & Instrumentation