Automated Control Loop For Multiple Observations Of Newly Detected Objects In GEO With The Tarot Telescopes

Paper number

IAC-07-A6.1.03

Author

Mr. Fernand Alby, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France

Coauthor

Mr. Etienne Ducrotte, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France

Year

2007

Abstract

Since several years CNES has been using the Tarot telescope (CNRS) to detect and observe objects close to the geostationary orbit. The first Tarot is located near Grasse in the South of France; a second Tarot telescope is now available in the La Silla observatory in Chile.
These observations give information on the position of the objects at a given date. In order to perform operations such as station keeping or transfer to a graveyard orbit at end of life, the estimation of the orbit parameters of the objects is necessary in order to estimate the collision risk they could represent.
The orbit determination cannot be obtained through a single observation but requires several measurements of the same object during the same night. This implies to implement a process allowing detecting the objects, estimating their drift in the field of view of the telescope and generating pointing elements that will enable future observations several minutes and hours later. Thus several observations of the same object are possible during the same night, first using the Tarot in France, then using the Tarot in Chile, or the 2 telescopes quasi simultaneously when the constraints relative to geometry and lighting are met. The orbit parameters can be estimated at each step of the process with an increasing quality.
This process might represent a heavy workload for an operator, especially when several new objects are detected: therefore an automated control loop has been developed and implemented. This article describes the principle of this loop together with the method used to estimate pointing elements at each step and presents the first results obtained with the 2 Tarot telescopes in 2007.

Abstract document

IAC-07-A6.1.03.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-07-A6.1.03.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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