Tompkins Joseph, Cain Stephen, Becker David
Opt Express. 2019 Feb 18;27(4):5403-5419. doi: 10.1364/OE.27.005403.
The US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) operated Space Surveillance Network (SSN) is tasked with Space Situational Awareness (SSA) for the U.S. military. This system is made up of Electro-Optic sensors, such as the Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) and RADAR based sensors, such as the Space Fence Gaps. They remain in the tracking of Resident Space Objects (RSO's) in Geosynchronous Orbits (GEO), due to limitations of SST and GEODSS system implementation. This research explores a reliable, ground-based technique used to quickly determine an RSO's altitude from a single or limited set of observations. Implementation of such sensors into the SSN would mitigate GEO SSA performance gaps. The research entails a method used to distinguish between the point spread function (PSF) observed by a star and the PSF observed from an RSO by using Multi-Hypothesis Testing with parallax as a test criterion. Parallax is the effect that an observed object will appear to shift when viewed from different positions. This effect is explored by generating PSFs from telescope observations of space objects at different baselines. The research has shown the PSF of an RSO can be distinguished from that of a star using single, simultaneous observations from reference and parallax sensing telescopes. This report validates these techniques with both simulations and experimental data from the SST and Naval Observatory sensors.
美国战略司令部（USSTRATCOM）运营的太空监视网络（SSN）负责为美国军方提供太空态势感知（SSA）。该系统由光电传感器组成，例如地基光电深空监视（GEODSS），以及基于雷达的传感器，例如太空围栏间隙。由于太空监视望远镜（SST）和GEODSS系统实施的局限性，它们仍在跟踪地球同步轨道（GEO）中的常驻太空物体（RSO）。本研究探索了一种可靠的地基技术，用于从单个或有限的观测数据集中快速确定RSO的高度。将此类传感器集成到SSN中将缓解GEO SSA的性能差距。该研究需要一种方法，通过使用以视差为测试标准的多假设测试，来区分恒星观测到的点扩散函数（PSF）和RSO观测到的PSF。视差是指从不同位置观察时，观测对象看起来会发生移动的现象。通过在不同基线处对太空物体进行望远镜观测来生成PSF，从而探究这种效应。研究表明，使用参考望远镜和视差感应望远镜的单次同步观测，可以将RSO的PSF与恒星的PSF区分开来。本报告通过SST和海军天文台传感器的模拟和实验数据验证了这些技术。
