Close Approach Analysis in the Geosynchronous Region Using Optical Measurements

Earth orbiting spacecraft are exposed to a hazardous micrometeoroid and orbital debris environment. These objects can collide at very high velocity, causing significant damage to operational satellites in any orbital regime, from low Earth orbit (LEO) to geosynchronous orbit (GEO). The optical measurement acquisition system consists of optic devices, including the telescope and the charge-coupled device (CCD), pointing devices, including computer and mount, image processing and astrometry algorithms, and accurate timing devices. The objects' TLEs are propagated to generate pointing commands to the mount so that the objects fall within the telescope field of view at the appropriate time. The satellite used to perform the residuals analysis and assess the OD procedure performance is SICRAL1 with the measurements collected during an observation campaign performed in October 2011. The OD is based on measurements equally spaced in time, at five-minute time intervals.