Real Time Orbital Object Recognition for Optical Space Surveillance Applications

Radu Danescu, Attila Fuzes, Razvan Itu, Vlad Turcu

2023

Abstract

Artificial objects in various orbits surround the Earth, and many of these objects can be found within the low Earth orbit region (LEO). This orbital zone also contains a significant amount of space debris, which pose a tangible threat to space operations, necessitating close monitoring. Various sensors can be used for either tracking, knowing the target’s orbital parameters and observing it for updating them, or for surveillance, which can also discover new targets. Real time identification of the satellite as it is detected by the surveillance systems provides a mechanism for selecting the targets for stare and chase applications, to decide if a new satellite has been discovered, or to identify a satellite that has outdated orbital elements. This paper describes a system capable of real time surveillance and satellite identification using limited computing power. The system relies on detecting trajectory endpoints at discrete time intervals, and then using these endpoints for frame by frame trajectory prediction, which is then matched with detected tracklets. This way, the tracklets are identified in real time. The system has been tested by surveying real satellites, in real time, and the identification mechanism proved to work as expected.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Danescu R., Fuzes A., Itu R. and Turcu V. (2023). Real Time Orbital Object Recognition for Optical Space Surveillance Applications. In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO; ISBN 978-989-758-670-5, SciTePress, pages 562-569. DOI: 10.5220/0012158800003543

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icinco23,
author={Radu Danescu and Attila Fuzes and Razvan Itu and Vlad Turcu},
title={Real Time Orbital Object Recognition for Optical Space Surveillance Applications},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO},
year={2023},
pages={562-569},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0012158800003543},
isbn={978-989-758-670-5},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - Volume 1: ICINCO
TI - Real Time Orbital Object Recognition for Optical Space Surveillance Applications
SN - 978-989-758-670-5
AU - Danescu R.
AU - Fuzes A.
AU - Itu R.
AU - Turcu V.
PY - 2023
SP - 562
EP - 569
DO - 10.5220/0012158800003543
PB - SciTePress