Some Technical Issues of an Optically Focused Small Space Debris Tracking and Cataloging System

Congressional language in the 1998 US Senate Armed Services Committee authorization bill directed ... the Secretary of the (United States) Air Force to undertake a design study of a system that could catalog and track debris down to one centimeter in size out to 1000kilometer in altitude. The US Air Force Research Laboratory, in conjunction with other US National Laboratories and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted a study that examined what technical systems and operations would be required to perform such a mission. This paper outlines the study process, details the findings, draws conclusions, and makes recommendations as to what would be needed to develop an optically based system capable of cataloging and tracking small debris in low Earth orbit.