CubeSat formation architecture for small space debris surveillance and orbit determination

Abstract

Introduction: Satellites which face space debris cannot track it throughout the whole orbit due to natural limitations of their optical sensors, sush as field of view, Earth occultation, or solar illumination. Besides, the time of continuous observations is usually very short. Therefore, we are trying to offer the most effective configuration of optical sensors in order to provide short-arc tracking of a target piece of debris, using a scalable Extended Information Filter. Purpose: The best scenario for short-arc tracking of a space debris orbit using multipoint optical sensors. Results: We have found optimal configurations for groups of satellites with optical sensors which move along a sun-synchronous orbit.  Debris orbit determination using an Extended Information Filter and measurements from multipoint sensors was simulated, and mean squared errors of the target's position were calculated. Based on the simulation results for variouos configurations, inter-satellite distances and measurement time, the most reliable scenario (four satellites in tetrahedral configuration) was found and recommended for practical use in short-arc debris tracking.