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    • Design And Manufacturing Of First Italian Space Debris Observatory

    Paper number

    IAC-07-E2.3.05

    Author

    Ms. Lucrezia Murrali, Scuola di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Italy

    Coauthor

    Ms. Chantal Cappelletti, Scuola di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Italy

    Coauthor

    Mr. Fabrizio Paolillo, Scuola di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Italy

    Year

    2007

    Abstract
    GAUSS (Group of Astrodynamics of University of Rome “La Sapienza”) is actually manufacturing, in the framework of a contract with Italian Space Agency (ASI), and according to IADC (Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee) guidelines, the first Italian observatory completely dedicated to space debris detection. 
The whole observatory project has been carried out by students of GAUSS, providing them with the capabilities to face real problems in structural and optical design and manufacturing, with the responsibilities to respect a strict time schedule also considering the real procurement phase.
The paper deals with the design and development of the observatory.
Different types of domes have been take into consideration. The final dome is a modular structure using modules of reduced dimensions and weights to be assembled directly at the observation site thus giving an excellent flexibility to the observatory that can be easily adapted to a different number and kind of telescopes (40 and 50 cm). It is fully automated by using an electric motor remotely controlled. 
Moreover the optical observation campaigns will be carried out in different sites, this implies that the whole observatory must be easy to transport.
The optical configuration of 40 cm, with a primary mirror of f/1.2, is a Cassegrain modified to reduce the f/number. The secondary mirror and the meniscus lens are used to improve image quality reducing coma.
This unusual configuration make the telescope adapt to space debris research campaign (thanks to the wide field of view) but at the same time it has required a lot of efforts to manufacture and design suitable manufacturing solution. 
Due to the large number of expected data it has been needed to develop a software to carry out automatic images processing and to identify these objects, it is also depicted in the paper.
Numerical simulation on expected field of view and preliminary observation results are shown in the paper.
    Abstract document

    IAC-07-E2.3.05.pdf

    Manuscript document

    IAC-07-E2.3.05.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

    To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.