Feasibility of performing space surveillance tasks with a proposed space-based optical architecture

Under ESA contract an industrial consortium including Aboa Space Research Oy (ASRO), the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern (AIUB), and the Dutch National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR), proposed the observation concept, developed a suitable sensor architecture, and assessed the performance of a space-based optical (SBO) telescope in 2005. The goal of the SBO study was to analyse how the existing knowledge gap in the space debris population in the millimetre and centimetre regime may be closed by means of a passive optical instrument. The SBO instrument was requested to provide statistical information on the space debris population in terms of number of objects and size distribution. The SBO instrument was considered to be a cost-efficient with 20 cm aperture and 6° field-of-view and having flexible integration requirements. It should be possible to integrate the SBO instrument easily as a secondary payload on satellites launched into low-Earth orbits (LEO), or into geostationary orbit (GEO). Thus the selected mission concept only allowed for fix-mounted telescopes, and the pointing direction could be requested freely. Since 2007 ESA focuses space surveillance and tracking activities in the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) preparatory program. Ground-based radars and optical telescopes are studied for the build-up and maintenance of a catalogue of objects. In this paper we analyse how the proposed SBO architecture could contribute to the space surveillance tasks survey and tracking. We assume that the SBO instrumentation is placed into a circular sun-synchronous orbit at 800 km altitude. We discuss the observation conditions of objects at higher altitude, and select an orbit close to the terminator plane. A pointing of the sensor orthogonal to the orbital plane with optimal elevation slightly in positive direction (0° and +5°) is found optimal for accessing the entire GEO regime within one day, implying a very good coverage of controlled objects in GEO, too. Simulations using ESA’s Program for Radar and Optical Observation Forecasting (PROOF) in the version 2005 and a GEO reference population extracted from DISCOS revealed that the proposed pointing scenario provides low phase angles together with low angular velocities of the objects crossing the field-of-view. Radiometric simulations show that the optimal exposure time is 1–2 s, and that spherical objects in GEO with a diameter of below 1 m can be detected. The GEO population can be covered under proper illumination nearly completely, but seasonal drops of the coverage are possible. Subsequent observations of objects are on average at least every 1.5 days, not exceeding 3 days at maximum. A single observation arc spans 3° to 5° on average. Using a simulation environment that connects PROOF to AIUB’s program system CelMech we verify the consistency of the initial orbit determination for five selected test objects on subsequent days as a function of realistic astrometric noise levels. The initial orbit determination is possible. We define requirements for a correlator process essential for catalogue build-up and maintenance. Each single observation should provide an astrometric accuracy of at least 1”–1.5” so that the initially determined orbits are consistent within a few hundred kilometres for the semi-major axis, 0.01 for the eccentricity, and 0.1° for the inclination.     

Sumbandilasat—An operational technology demonstrator

Technology advances in sensor, digital technology and a standardised modular satellite bus are enabling a new generation of 80 kg micro-satellites with a better than 6.5 m GSD multi-spectral performance, to be specified, built and deployed with a dedicated launch within 12 months. The result of the standardised modular bus is lower cost, higher reliability and fast deployment. Operational remote sensing with a micro-satellite is thus within reach of individual organisations for dedicated missions. Sumbandilasat (pioneer in the Venda language) is a second generation satellite technology building on the expertise obtained in the Sunsat small satellite programme. The components used to build Sumbandilasat are the result of a technology development program of more than 3 years. Sumbandilasat is an operational technology demonstrator with more than 90% newly developed or improved subsystems and a compact refractive imager as a precursor to the MSMISat satellite with the same multi-spectral band set. The scalable, standardised modular satellite bus architecture enables satellites with a mass of 80–450 kg to be adapted to the specific mission requirements with minimum new engineering effort.     

ESA开展GEO上小碎片的调查

文章主要介绍了欧空局开展地球同步轨道(GEO)小碎片的调查情况及相应技术.     

电子干扰对低可观测飞行器飞行路径规划的影响

为了提高巡航导弹的低空突防能力,在分析电子干扰对雷达网威胁区域的影响后认为:在多重干扰条件下,雷达探测空间会顺着干扰方向产生内凹和偏移,因此,建立了新的雷达探测空间模型.采用空间对象间拓扑关系推理方法建立了飞行器飞行路径规划目标函数中雷达威胁指数模型,然后改进了飞行器飞行路径规划模型,并在此基础上进行了巡航导弹飞行路径规划的软件仿真.仿真结果表明:考虑电子干扰对雷达威胁区域的影响情况下规划的飞行路径能够回避雷达威胁,有效提高飞行器低空突防能力.     

天文观测卫星动中探测机动测试系统设计

天文观测卫星普遍采用动中探测模式开展空间探测任务。为了实现动中探测姿态机动模式的地面有效验证，设计了整星机动集成测试方案。设计惯性空间基准的地面动力学仿真，满足惯性空间扫描仿真；设计整星各分系统间高精度时间统一系统，为整星机动测试提供统一基准；基于STK与Matlab接口模块，设计基于实时遥测数据的可视化判读系统，可提高测试判读实时性与准确度。整星测试结果表明，该方案有效验证了动中探测任务中姿态机动功能的正确性和指标符合情况，为开展整星地面测试和在轨应用提供了参考。     

Air-LUSI: A robotic telescope design for lunar spectral measurements

This paper presents the mechanical design of a new robotic telescope that was designed and built to acquire lunar spectral measurements from the science pod of NASA's ER-2 aircraft while flying at an altitude of 70,000 feet (21.34 km). The robotic telescope used a double gimbal design that allowed for target tracking in azimuth and elevation. In addition to the challenging and restrictive geometry of the science pod, each component needed to be carefully selected to ensure that they could withstand the operating conditions at high altitude such as harsh temperatures extending as low as −54 °C and atmospheric pressure less than 1.05 psi (7.23 kPa). Due to the cold temperatures, low atmospheric pressure and the likely exposure to moisture, high strength industrial linear actuators were used to create an adjustable linkage system that controlled the pointing and tracking of the telescope. Although unconventional, this allowed for a robust design that outperformed the team's expectations by tracking the Moon for 40 min with an average tracking error under 0.05°. The results presented within this paper were acquired during a first set of engineering test flights, with further scientific missions to follow.     

GPS／SINS姿态组合系统空间一致性研究

在基于卡尔曼滤波器并引入了姿态观测量的GPS/SINS组合导航系统中,GPS天线体坐标系与IMU所在的载体坐标系由于安装误差或其他原因不能完全重合,两个坐标系间存在失准角,导致多天线GPS与SINS输出的姿态信息在空间不能同步,这将影响卡尔曼滤波的效果。本文针对这一问题进行了深入的研究,分析了两个坐标系空间不一致的机理,给出了静态和动基座情况下标定两个坐标系位置关系的方法并进行仿真分析验证了其可行性。     

Observation of Mercury’s sodium tail using Fabry–Perot Interferometer

We observed sodium emission from Mercury’s atmosphere using a Fabry–Perot Interferometer at Haleakala Observatory on June 14, 2006. The Fabry–Perot Interferometer was used as a wavelength-tunable filter. The spectra of the surface reflection were subtracted from the observed spectra because sodium emission is contaminated by the surface reflection of Mercury. The image obtained in our observation shows the sodium exosphere extended to the anti-solar direction. The lifetime of a sodium atom was estimated to be 1.6 × 10⁴ to 1.9 × 10⁵ s with an error by a factor of 3–4.     

2012–2014 China's Earth Observation and Earth Science Development

Human beings are now facing global and regional sustainable development challenges.In China, Earth observation data play a fundamental role in Earth system science research. The support given by Earth observation data is required by many studies, including those on Earth's limited natural resources, the rapid development of economic and social needs, global change, extreme events, food security, water resources, sustainable economic and urban development, and emergency response. Application operation systems in many ministries and departments in China have entered a stage of sustainable development, and the State Key Project of High-Resolution Earth Observation Systems has been progressing since 2006. Earth observation technology in China has entered a period of rapid development.     

Adaptive neural network control of nonlinear systems with unknown dynamics

In this study, an adaptive neural network control approach is proposed to achieve accurate and robust control of nonlinear systems with unknown dynamics, wherein the neural network is innovatively used to learn the inverse problem of system dynamics with guaranteed convergence. This study focuses on the following three contributions. First, the considered system is transformed into a multi-integrator system using an input–output linearization technique, and an extended state observation technique is used to identify the transformed states. Second, an iterative control learning algorithm is proposed to achieve the neural network training, and stability analysis is given to prove that the network’s predictions converge to ideal control inputs with guaranteed convergence. Third, an adaptive neural network controller is developed by combining the trained network and a proportional-integral controller, and the long-standing challenge of model-based methods for control determination of unknown dynamics is resolved. Simulation results of a virtual control mission and an aerospace altitude tracking mission are provided to substantiate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques and illustrate the adaptability and robustness of the proposed controller.