Pattern of Life Analysis in Space Domain Awareness
Presented by:
David Smith
David Smith
University of Tasmania/HENSOLDT Australia
Simon Ellingsen
University of Tasmania
Guifre Molera Calves
University of Tasmania/HENSOLDT Australia
Jasper Edwards
University of Tasmania
Pradyumna Kummamuru
University of Tasmania
Space Domain Awareness (SDA) is a term encompassing the detection, tracking, identification and cataloguing of artificial satellites orbiting the Earth. As the number of objects, both active satellites and debris, in orbit continues to climb, the probability of high velocity collisions between objects goes up, which in turn creates more debris. The tracking of these objects is, therefore, vital in preventing collisions and safeguarding that functional satellites, space stations and crewed missions. To this end, this project is aiming to build software and hardware systems to develop a passive SDA satellite and debris tracking system for the University of Tasmania radio telescopes. This talk will focus on an ongoing “pattern of life” analysis, consisting of repeated measurements of satellites over weeks and months to detect patterns, changes in signal, and to help build up an understanding of what typical satellite behaviour looks like. This analysis has yielded much useful data about satellite signals, in terms of the signal frequency, shape and potentially distorting artefacts. With the data taken, a system can begin to be designed that can detect satellites and debris without operator input.
Category:
SSA