Photon counting detector for space debris laser tracking and lunar laser ranging

We are reporting on a design, construction and performance of solid state photon counting detector package which has been designed for laser tracking of space debris. The detector has been optimized for top photon detection efficiency and detection delay stability. The active area of the commercially available avalanche photodiode manufactured on Si (SAP500 supplied by Laser Components, Inc.) is circular with a diameter of 500 μm. The newly designed control circuit enables to operate the detection sensor at a broad range of biases 5–50 V above its breakdown voltage of 125 V. This permits to select a right trade-off between photon detection efficiency, timing resolution and dark count rate. The photon detection efficiency exceeds 70% at the wavelength of 532 nm. This is the highest photon detection efficiency ever reported for such a device. The timing properties of the detector have been investigated in detail. The timing resolution is better than 80 ps r.m.s, the detection delay is stable within units of picoseconds over several hours of operation. The detection delay stability in a sense of time deviation of 800 fs has been achieved. The temperature change of the detection delay is 0.5 ps/K. The detector has been tested as an echo signal detector in laser tracking of space debris at the satellite laser station in Graz, Austria. Its application in lunar laser ranging is under consideration by several laser stations.     

Spin motion determination of the Envisat satellite through laser ranging measurements from a single pass measured by a single station

The Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) technology is used to accurately determine the position of space objects equipped with so-called retro-reflectors or retro-reflector arrays (RRA). This type of measurement allows to measure the range to the spacecraft with high precision, which leads to determination of very accurate orbits for these targets. Non-active spacecraft, which are not attitude controlled any longer, tend to start to spin or tumble under influence of the external and internal torques and forces.If the return signal is measured for a non-spherical non-active rotating object, the signal in the range residuals with respect to the reference orbit is more complex. For rotating objects the return signal shows an oscillating pattern or patterns caused by the RRA moving around the satellite’s centre of mass. This behaviour is projected onto the radial component measured by the SLR.In our work, we demonstrate how the SLR ranging technique from one sensor to a satellite equipped with a RRA can be used to precisely determine its spin motion during one passage. Multiple SLR measurements of one target over time allow to accurately monitor spin motion changes which can be further used for attitude predictions. We show our solutions of the spin motion determined for the non-active ESA satellite Envisat obtained from measurements acquired during years 2013–2015 by the Zimmerwald SLR station, Switzerland. All the necessary parameters are defined for our own so-called point-like model which describes the motion of a point in space around the satellite centre of mass.     

Status of the T2L2/Jason2 Experiment

The T2L2 (Time Transfer by Laser Link) project, developed by CNES and OCA will permit the synchronization of remote ultra stable clocks and the determination of their performances over intercontinental distances. The principle of the experiment derives from Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) technology with dedicated space equipment. T2L2 was accepted in 2005 to be on board the Jason2 altimetry satellite. The payload consists of both event timer and photo detection modules. The system uses the ultra-stable quartz oscillator of DORIS as on-board reference clock on one hand, and the Laser Reflector Array, making T2L2 a real two-way time transfer system on the other hand. The expected time stability of the T2L2 instrument (detection and timing), referenced by the DORIS oscillator and including all internal error sources should be at the level of 10–12 ps at 1 s and <1 ps at 1000 s. The metrological specifications of T2L2 should permit to maintain a precision of 1 to a few ps when measuring the phase of a clock during around 1000 seconds.     

Time-varying solar radiation pressure on Ajisai in comparison with LAGEOS satellites

This study aims to investigate solar radiation pressure acting on the spherical geodetic satellites, Ajisai, LAGEOS-1, and LAGEOS-2. The solar radiation pressure coefficients ($C_R$) are derived in two independent ways: (a) through precise orbit determination (POD) using satellite laser ranging (SLR) data, and (b) through modeling using the optical properties of the satellite surface material. The average $C_R$ value of Ajisai (1.039), as calculated from the time series of $C_R$ POD estimates every 15?days, is consistently smaller than those of LAGEOS-1 (1.140) and LAGEOS-2 (1.103). This difference can be explained by the fact that the surface of Ajisai is mostly covered by mirrors. The Ajisai $C_R$ values estimated by POD show remarkable semi-annual variation, which disagrees with the results of a previous study (Sengoku et al., 1995) predicting that the $C_R$ of Ajisai varies almost annually. We attribute this semi-annual variation to two physical reasons: the non-spherical additional cross-sectional area due to the “attached fitting ring” and the low reflectivity of the surface material in the polar regions. Furthermore, the solar radiation pressure acting on Ajisai varies annually in a direction perpendicular to the sun-satellite vector. Finally, the two independent $C_R$ values of Ajisai agree more when we assume a total solar irradiance of 1361?W/m², whereas the value 1367?W/m² has been commonly used in POD.     

Comparison of fragments created by low- and hyper-velocity impacts

This paper summarizes two new satellite impact experiments. The objective of the experiments was to investigate the outcome of low- and hyper-velocity impacts on two identical target satellites. The first experiment was performed at a low-velocity of 1.5 km/s using a 40-g aluminum alloy sphere. The second experiment was performed at a hyper-velocity of 4.4 km/s using a 4-g aluminum alloy sphere. The target satellites were 15 cm × 15 cm × 15 cm in size and 800 g in mass. The ratios of impact energy to target mass for the two experiments were approximately the same. The target satellites were completely fragmented in both experiments, although there were some differences in the characteristics of the fragments. The projectile of the low-velocity impact experiment was partially fragmented while the projectile of the hyper-velocity impact experiment was completely fragmented beyond recognition. To date, approximately 1500 fragments from each impact experiment have been collected for detailed analysis. Each piece has been weighed, measured, and analyzed based on the analytic method used in the NASA Standard Breakup Model (2000 revision). These fragments account for about 95% of the target mass for both impact experiments. Preliminary analysis results will be presented in this paper.     

Precise orbit determination using the batch filter based on particle filtering with genetic resampling approach

In this study, genetic resampling (GRS) approach is utilized for precise orbit determination (POD) using the batch filter based on particle filtering (PF). Two genetic operations, which are arithmetic crossover and residual mutation, are used for GRS of the batch filter based on PF (PF batch filter). For POD, Laser-ranging Precise Orbit Determination System (LPODS) and satellite laser ranging (SLR) observations of the CHAMP satellite are used. Monte Carlo trials for POD are performed by one hundred times. The characteristics of the POD results by PF batch filter with GRS are compared with those of a PF batch filter with minimum residual resampling (MRRS). The post-fit residual, 3D error by external orbit comparison, and POD repeatability are analyzed for orbit quality assessments. The POD results are externally checked by NASA JPL’s orbits using totally different software, measurements, and techniques. For post-fit residuals and 3D errors, both MRRS and GRS give accurate estimation results whose mean root mean square (RMS) values are at a level of 5 cm and 10–13 cm, respectively. The mean radial orbit errors of both methods are at a level of 5 cm. For POD repeatability represented as the standard deviations of post-fit residuals and 3D errors by repetitive PODs, however, GRS yields 25% and 13% more robust estimation results than MRRS for post-fit residual and 3D error, respectively. This study shows that PF batch filter with GRS approach using genetic operations is superior to PF batch filter with MRRS in terms of robustness in POD with SLR observations.     

Precision orbit determination performance for CryoSat-2

In this paper we discuss our efforts to perform precision orbit determination (POD) of CryoSat-2 which depends on Doppler and satellite laser ranging tracking data. A dynamic orbit model is set-up and the residuals between the model and the tracking data is evaluated. The average r.m.s. of the 10?s averaged Doppler tracking pass residuals is approximately 0.39?mm/s; and the average of the laser tracking pass residuals becomes 1.42?cm. There are a number of other tests to verify the quality of the orbit solution, we compare our computed orbits against three independent external trajectories provided by the CNES. The CNES products are part of the CryoSat-2 products distributed by ESA. The radial differences of our solution relative to the CNES precision orbits shows an average r.m.s. of 1.25?cm between Jun-2010 and Apr-2017. The SIRAL altimeter crossover difference statistics demonstrate that the quality of our orbit solution is comparable to that of the POE solution computed by the CNES. In this paper we will discuss three important changes in our POD activities that have brought the orbit performance to this level. The improvements concern the way we implement temporal gravity accelerations observed by GRACE; the implementation of ITRF2014 coordinates and velocities for the DORIS beacons and the SLR tracking sites. We also discuss an adjustment of the SLR retroreflector position within the satellite reference frame. An unexpected result is that we find a systematic difference between the median of the 10 s Doppler tracking residuals which displays a statistically significant pattern in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SSA) area where the median of the velocity residuals varies in the range of ?0.15 to +0.15?mm/s.     

10 Years of LAGEOS-1 and 15 years of LAGEOS-2 spin period determination from SLR data

Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) stations measure distance to the satellites equipped with Corner Cube Reflectors (CCRs). These range measurements contain information about spin parameters of the spacecraft. In this paper we present results of spin period determination of two passive satellites from SLR data only: 10 years of LAGEOS-1 (10426 values), and 15 years of LAGEOS-2 (15580 values). The measurements have been made by standard 10 Hz SLR systems and the first 2 kHz SLR system from Graz (Austria). The obtained data allowed calculation of the initial spin period of the satellites: 0.61 s for LAGEOS-1 and 0.906 s for LAGEOS-2. Long time series of the spin period values show that the satellite’s slowing down rate is not constant but is oscillating with a period of 846 days for LAGEOS-1 and 578 days for LAGEOS-2. The results presented here definitely prove that the SLR is a very efficient technique able to measure spin period of the geodetic satellites.     

A new approach to the telescope operation method for satellite tracking using a time synchronization technique

For the development of a telescope that is capable of precisely tracking satellites and high-speed operation such as satellite laser ranging, a special method of telescope operation is required. This study aims to propose a new telescope operation method and system configuration for the independent development of a mount and an operation system which includes the host computer. Considering that the tracking of a satellite is performed in real time, communication and synchronization between the two independent subsystems are important. Therefore, this study applied the concept of time synchronization, which is used in various fields of industry, to the communication between the command computer and the mount. In this case, communication delays do not need to be considered in general, and it is possible to cope with data loss. Above all, when the mount is replaced in the future, only the general communication interface needs to be modified, and thus, it is not limited by replacement in terms of the overall system management. The performance of the telescope operation method developed in this study was verified by applying the method to the first mobile SLR system in Korea. This study is significant in that it proposed a new operation method and system configuration, to which the concept of time synchronization was applied, for the observation system that requires an optical telescope.     

First laser measurements to space debris in Poland

The Borowiec Satellite Laser Ranging station (BORL 7811, Borowiec) being a part of the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (SRC PAS) went through modernization in 2014–2015. One of the main tasks of the modernization was the installation of a high-energy laser module dedicated to space debris tracking. Surelite III by Continuum is a Nd:YAG pulse laser with 10?Hz repetition rate, a pulse width of 3–5?ns and a pulse energy of 450?mJ for green (532?nm). This new laser unit was integrated with the SLR system at Borowiec performing standard satellite tracking. In 2016 BORL 7811 participated actively to the observational campaigns related to the space debris targets from LEO region managed by the Space Debris Study Group (SDSG) of the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS).Currently, Borowiec station regularly tracks 36 space debris from the LEO regime, including typical rocket bodies (Russian/Chinese) and cooperative targets like the inactive TOPEX/Poseidon, ENVISAT, OICETS and others. In this paper the first results of space debris laser measurements obtained by the Borowiec station in period August 2016 – January 2017 are presented. The results gained by the SRC PAS Borowiec station confirm the rotation of the defunct TOPEX/Poseidon satellite which spins with a period of approximately 10?s. The novelty of this work is the presentation of the sample results of the Chinese CZ-2C R/B target (NORAD catalogue number 31114) which is equipped (probably) with retroreflectors. Laser measurements to space debris is a very desirable topic for the next years, especially in the context of the Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) activity. Some targets are very easy to track like defunct ENVISAT or TOPEX/Poseidon. On the other hand, there is a big population of different LEO targets with different orbital and physical parameters, which are challenging for laser ranging like small irregular debris and rocket boosters.     

航天器应急姿态捕获中GPS信号的应用

星载全球定位系统（GPS）卫星接收机在测量接收各GPS卫星信号时,可同时得到接收信号的信号强度测量辅助数据E。理论分析表明,接收信号的强度E与信号入射天线的法向夹角α强相关。如建立E与α稳定的先验模型,E就可以作为测量值,计算入射天线的角度α。在同一时刻,通过三个以上GPS卫星信号入射天线的角度α,可计算星载GPS卫星接收机接收天线的空间姿态。确定姿态的精度取决于E与α相关先验模型的稳定性。利用CHAMP卫星星载接收机在轨实测数据检验,估算的初始姿态精度为2°~3°。该方法可作为航天器故障状态下应急姿态捕获的一种辅助手段,也可为携带星载GPS而无高精度定姿要求的简易航天器提供一种新的无附加成本的定姿途径。