DLR Portal
Home|Sitemap|Contact Imprint and terms of use Privacy Cookies & Tracking |Deutsch
You are here: Home:Organisation:Spaceflight Technology (GSOC):Space Situational Awareness (SSA)
Advanced Search
Service Portfolio
Space Missions
Control Center
Ground Station Weilheim
Mobile Rocket Base
Events
Cosmic Kiss Science Debrief Videos
Publications
Recommended Books
Images and Videos
Organisation
Mission Operations (GSOC)
Mission Technology (GSOC)
Communication and Ground Stations (GSOC)
Spaceflight Technology (GSOC)
GNSS Technology & Navigation
On-Orbit-Servicing
Space Situational Awareness (SSA)
Flight Dynamics
Astronaut Training (EAC)
Microgravity User Support Center (MUSC)
Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA)
Controlling and Acquisition
Job Offers
Links
Kids Corner
News Archive
Reach Us
Print

Space Situational Awareness (SSA)



The SSA Research Group focuses on ensuring that our satellites can operate safely in Space. A prerequisite for ensuring their reliability is ascertaining what can pose a threat to satellites and what countermeasures can be taken in a hazardous situation. A close encounter with another object which might result in a collision is one example of the possible risks. COLA (Collision Avoidance) is a tool which the Flight Dynamics Team uses to analyse such scenarios. Essential to the success of this process is the availability of accurate orbit data of the satellite in question and of an object within its range. At the moment the Joint Space Operation Center (JSpOC) of the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) supplies GSOC with Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) information. However, as the orbit data catalogue used as a basis for identifying impending collisions is incomplete it makes sense to develop in-house orbit surveillance sensors. For this reason GCOC is working on and will be running SMARTnet (Small Aperture Robotic Telescope Network), a dedicated sensory network. The SSA Research Group supports several sensor analyses to monitor LEO and is preparing in close cooperation with DLR’s Microwaves and Radar Institute its own radar tracking system capable of detecting and monitoring near-Earth objects using innovative sensor technology. The information system used to process the data generated by the sensors is called BACARDI (Backbone Catalogue of Relational Debris Information). DLR’s Institute for Simulation and Software Technology is working on a software framework for distributed computing for the BACARDI project using high performance computer technology (HPC engineering) and an integrated relational data base system.

 

Research Areas

SMARTnet (Small Aperture Robotic Telescope Network)

  • Telescope
  • Tele-robotic operation
  • Network
  • Cooperation

BACARDI (Backbone Catalogue of Relational Debris Information)

  • Object correlation
  • Orbit determination,  orbit prediction, data fusion
  • Indexing
  • Collision prediction and avoidance
  • Re-entry predictions
  • Manoever detection
  • High Performance Computing

Radar

  • Analyses of TIRA-data (Tracking and Imaging Radar in Wachtberg)
  • Weilheim Tracking Radar

Contact
Dr. Hauke Fiedler
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
, Space Operations and Astronaut Training
Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling

Tel.: +49 8153 28 3358

Related Topics
Spacecraft Design, Testing and Performance
Copyright © 2023 German Aerospace Center (DLR). All rights reserved.