The CASSIOPEE project aims at providing the necessary tools for Share My Space (Now Aldoria) to provide a catalogue of >150 000 space objects below 5cm. The aim is to provide a solution more performant than the 25 000 objects 18th Space Defense Squadron, with associated services for instance for satellite operators to be able to operate their fleet with the support of SMS' services to anticipates potential collisions. Therefore, the project has 2 main technical purposes:
1 - The development of services with their corollary software modules to handle data coming from Aldoria's telescopes network. In particular, optimisation are to be made for positions determination correction, automatic association with known objects, or automatic processing and creation of a new object in case it cannot be associated, orbits determination, development of interfaces and APIs for users to use services adequately.
2 - The development of a specific telescope to equip Aldoria's Multi-Telescope Observation Stations (MTOS) and expand the size of Aldoria's catalogue. These MTOS should be positioned around the world in specific locations for an efficient sky coverage. An MTOS is a modular optical system that enables the detection, tracking and characterization of all space objects in sight, across all orbits. Thanks to powerful embedded processing algorithms, it is scanning the sky permanently. Our system is made of 4 passive telescopes, that are located at the same observation site and rotate synchronously. Their rotation rate is coordinated with the transit time of objects in the field of view to ensure that all space objects are detected, even at low altitudes down to 300km. Each telescope has its own remote-controlled mount, which means that the 4 telescopes can also be controlled independently to track and further characterize specific objects.
The monitoring patterns can be modified all through the night to capture objects in the most effective manner. Accurate preliminary orbits are obtained using only a couple of images captured a few seconds from each other. We leverage this data to yield accurate orbit estimates and detect maneuvers.
The project in its first reporting period resulted in the software modules with all necessary corrections, identifications and association of space objects with observed data, orbits determination, scenarios proposition... and API for our clients to connect to our service and efficiently present their constraints in respect of the collision avoidance and risk mitigation services we provide. They will benefit from automatic propositions of scenarios for satellite repositioning for them to choose the best one considering different aspects, including their own constraints or potential new risks of collision.
Secondly, instead of the first telescope for MTOS, Aldoria decided to accelerate its infrastructure by building its first MTOS. This station is expected to expand Aldoria catalogue, and the learnings of this work are already used to accelerate the development and assembly of our second MTOS that has been implemented during the second half of the project.
