meetings - Space Flight Mechanics Committee

Feb 11, 2013 Kauai Salon 1
SESSION 5: SPACE-SURVEILLANCE TRACKING
Chair: Dr. David Spencer, Pennsylvania State University
13:30 AAS Best Hypotheses Search on Iso-Energy-Grid for Initial Orbit Determination
13-239 and Track Association
Jan Siminski, German Aerospace Center (DLR); Oliver Montenbruck, German
Aerospace Center (DLR); Hauke Fiedler, German Aerospace Center (DLR); Martin
Weigel, German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Multiple hypotheses filter methods have been developed to combine optical observation
tracks in order to perform an initial orbit determination. These methods can become
computationally intensive with an increasing number of initial hypotheses. This work
introduces a new minimum search method to find the best fitting orbit hypotheses. The
admissible region concept is used to determine an area of possible orbit solutions. This area
is subdivided into smaller sections with each having at most one optimal orbit solution.
Computational optimization methods are then exploited to obtain feasible orbits. The
effectiveness of the presented method is assessed using simulated measurements.
13:50 AAS A Catalogue-Wide Implementation of General Perturbations Orbit
13-240 Determination Extrapolated from Special Perturbations Solutions
Matthew Hejduk, a.i. solutions
Legacy software and communications issues have generally restricted the distribution of
satellite orbital information to the two-line element set format and thus imposed the
accuracy limitations of SGP4. However, the use of the “extrapolation general perturbations
(eGP)” methodology, in which pseudo-observations from a higher-order theory ephemeris
are used to create an SGP4 mean element set, can greatly improve the SGP4 elset accuracy.
The JSpOC is methodically transferring groups of satellites to this maintenance paradigm
and thus improving the accuracy of the public catalogue. This paper will describe the eGP
methodology and provide statements of expected accuracy improvement
14:10 AAS Automated Uncorrelated Track Resolution with the Search And Determine
13-241 Integrated Environment (SADIE)
Chris Sabol, Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing; Alan Segerman, Naval
Research Laboratory; Aaron Hoskins, Naval Research Laboratory; Paul
Schumacher, Air Force Research Laboratory
A new high performance computing software applications package called the Search and
Determine Integrated Environment (SADIE) is being jointly developed and refined by the
Air Force and Naval Research Laboratories to automatically resolve uncorrelated tracks and
build a more complete space object catalog. SADIE is being developed to handle large
catalog building challenges in all orbit regimes and includes the automatic processing of
radar, fence, and optical data. Real data results are provided for the processing of low Earth
radar and Air Force Space Surveillance System fence observations and for the processing of
23 rd AAS / AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting Page 29