The Ad Hoc Back-End of the BIRALET Radar to Measure Slant-Range and Doppler Shift of Resident Space Objects

Schirru, Luca; Pisanu, T.; Podda, Angelo

doi:10.3390/electronics10050577

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In addition to optical imaging, radar systems have been used extensively for SSA activities. One example of such a system is the Italian Bi-Static Radar for LEO Tracking (BIRALET) system [ 2 ]. This radar system’s transmitter works in the P-band, operating at 410–415 MHz, able to capture low Earth orbit (LEO) RSOs in beam parking mode or tracking mode.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stratospheric Night Sky Imaging Payload for Space Situational Awareness (SSA)

Kunalakantha,

Baires,

Dave

et al. 2023

Sensors

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Space situational awareness (SSA) refers to collecting, analyzing, and keeping track of detailed knowledge of resident space objects (RSOs) in the space environment. With the rapidly increasing number of objects in space, the need for SSA grows as well. Traditional methods rely heavily on imaging RSOs from large, narrow field-of-view (FOV), ground-based telescopes. This research outlines the technology demonstration payload, Resident Space Object Near-space Astrometric Research (RSONAR)—a star tracker-like, wide FOV camera combined with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware to image RSOs from the stratosphere, overcoming the disadvantages of ground-based observations. The hardware components and software algorithm are described and evaluated. The eligibility of the payload for SSA is proven by the image processing algorithms, which detect the RSOs in the images captured during flight and the survival of the COTS components in the near-space environment. The payload features a low-resolution, wide FOV camera coupled with a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)-based platform that houses the altitude and time-based image capture algorithm. The newly developed payload in a 2U-CubeSat form factor was flown as a space-ready payload on the CSA/CNES stratospheric balloon research platform to carry out algorithm and functionality tests in August 2022.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stratospheric Night Sky Imaging Payload for Space Situational Awareness (SSA)

Kunalakantha,

Baires,

Dave

et al. 2023

Sensors

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“…[14][15][16]). In addition, some radars are useful for space situational awareness (SSA) activities operating at the P-band [17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radio Frequency Interference Measurements to Determine the New Frequency Sub-Bands of the Coaxial L-P Cryogenic Receiver of the Sardinia Radio Telescope

Schirru,

Ladu,

Gaudiomonte

2023

Universe

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Radio frequency interference (RFI) represents all unwanted signals detected by radio receivers of a telescope. Unfortunately, the presence of RFI is significantly increasing with the technological development of wireless systems around the world. For this reason, RFI measurement campaigns are periodically necessary to map the RFI scenario around a telescope. The Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) is an Italian instrument that was designed to operate in a wide frequency band between 300 MHz and 116 GHz. One of the receivers of the telescope is a coaxial cryogenic receiver that covered a portion of the P and L bands (i.e., 305–410 MHz and 1300–1800 MHz) in its original version. Although the receiver was used for years to observe bright sources with sufficient results, its sub-bands can be redesigned considering the most recently evolved RFI scenario. In this paper, the results of a RFI measurement campaign are reported and discussed. On the basis of these results, the new sub-bands of the L-P receiver, together with the design of the new microwave filter selector block of the SRT receiver, are presented. In this way, SRT will cover up to 120 MHz and 460 MHz of −3 dB bandwidth at the P-band (290–410 MHz) and L-band (1320–1780 MHz), respectively. The bands of these filters are selected to reject the main RFI with high levels of amplitude and optimize the estimated antenna temperature and sensitivity of the receiver during the research activities, such as pulsar observations, very long baseline interferometer applications and spectroscopy science.

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“…For instance, the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) has developed three incoherent scatter radar systems, and the operating frequency of the two radars located in northern Scandinavia are 224 MHz and 931 MHz, while the other one in Svalbard operates at 500 MHz. The operating frequency of the Italian Bi-static Radar for LEO Tracking (BIRALET) system ranges from 410 to 415 MHz [6]. The Tracking and Imaging Radar (TIRA) in Germany is a system devoted to detailed studies of satellites and space debris, and contributes to European SSA [7].…”

Section: Introduction 1background and Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Joint Power and Bandwidth Allocation with RCS Fluctuation Characteristic for Space Target Tracking

et al. 2023

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Reasonable allocation of space-based radar resources is a crucial aspect of improving the accuracy of space multi-target tracking and enhancing spatial awareness. The conventional resource allocation algorithm fails to exploit the high dynamic radar cross-section (RCS) characteristics, resulting in poor tracking robustness, tracking divergence, or even loss of tracking. However, the RCS of space targets fluctuates considerably in actual tracking scenarios, which cannot be disregarded for space target tracking tasks. To address this issue, we propose an adaptive allocation method that considers the dynamic RCS fluctuation characteristic for space-based radar tracking assignments. The proposed method exploits the predictable orbital information of space target to calculate the real-time observation angle of radar, and then obtains the multi-target dynamic RCS through the target RCS dataset. By combining the obtained RCS sequence, radar power, and bandwidth, an optimal model for radar tracking accuracy is established based on the multi-target posterior Cramér–Rao lower bound (PCRLB) to evaluate the tracking performance. By resolving the aforementioned multivariance optimization problem, we eventually acquire the results of power and bandwidth pre-allocation for tracking multiple space targets. Simulation results validate that, compared with the traditional methods, the proposed joint dynamic RCS power and bandwidth allocation (JRPBA) method can achieve superior tracking accuracy and minimize instances of missed tracking.

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The Ad Hoc Back-End of the BIRALET Radar to Measure Slant-Range and Doppler Shift of Resident Space Objects

Cited by 11 publications

References 28 publications

Stratospheric Night Sky Imaging Payload for Space Situational Awareness (SSA)

Stratospheric Night Sky Imaging Payload for Space Situational Awareness (SSA)

Radio Frequency Interference Measurements to Determine the New Frequency Sub-Bands of the Coaxial L-P Cryogenic Receiver of the Sardinia Radio Telescope

Joint Power and Bandwidth Allocation with RCS Fluctuation Characteristic for Space Target Tracking

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