Imagine if your car's headlights could also act as a radar to spot road debris without needing extra equipment. This project does that for satellites by using the cameras they already have for navigation to spot floating space junk. Instead of launching expensive new sensors, it uses smart software to turn standard navigation tools into a giant debris-detection network.
Launching dedicated debris-detection satellites is expensive and ironically adds more objects to space. There is a need for a low-cost, high-resolution way to monitor space debris without adding new hardware.
Software for Sagitta and Twinkle star trackers including blob detection algorithms, a Kalman filter for tracking, and an orbit determination pipeline. A digital twin simulation and a data collection database were also created.
If you are a satellite bus provider dealing with the high cost of adding safety sensors — this project developed software for Sagitta and Twinkle star trackers that detects debris. This allows you to offer space situational awareness as a built-in feature without adding new hardware.
If you are an SSA provider dealing with gaps in debris tracking resolution — this project developed a database system to collect data from multiple star trackers. This creates a wider sensor network to improve the accuracy of orbit predictions.
If you are an insurance company dealing with high risk of orbital collisions — this project developed a way to characterize debris size and orbit using existing sensors. This provides more granular data to assess the risk of satellite fleets.
The cost is extremely low because it uses star trackers already included on the spacecraft for attitude determination, avoiding the need to launch extra dedicated sensors.
Yes, the project aims for wide-scale adoption by adding software functionality to existing sensors, which allows for a network with high spatial and temporal resolution.
Based on available project data, the development is led by ARCSEC, an SME, but specific licensing terms are not provided.
The project includes a database system designed to process data from various star trackers so it can be fed into the SSA databases of partnering organizations.
The project period runs from 2023-09-01 to 2025-08-31.
The project is managed by a single-partner consortium consisting of ARCSEC, a Belgian SME. This 100% industry-led structure suggests a strong focus on commercial viability and rapid product integration rather than academic research.
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