CubeSat-Based Passive Bistatic Radar for Space Situational Awareness: A Feasibility Study

This paper proposes a low budget solution to detect and possibly track space debris and satellites in Low Earth Orbit. The concept consists of a space-borne radar installed on a cubeSat flying at low altitude and detecting the occultations of radio signals coming from existing satellites flying at h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on aerospace and electronic systems 2019-02, Vol.55 (1), p.476-485
Main Authors: Persico, Adriano Rosario, Kirkland, Paul, Clemente, Carmine, Soraghan, John J., Vasile, Massimiliano
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Circular orbits
Cubesat
CubeSat-based radar
Feasibility studies
forward scattering (FS)
Illuminators
Low altitude
Low earth orbits
Multistatic radar
Object recognition
passive bistatic radar (PBR)
Performance measurement
Radar
Radar cross-sections
Radar imaging
Radar tracking
Radio signals
Receivers
Receivers & amplifiers
Satellite tracking
Situational awareness
Space debris
Space debris mitigation
space situational awareness
space-borne radar
Spaceborne radar
Visibility
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Summary:This paper proposes a low budget solution to detect and possibly track space debris and satellites in Low Earth Orbit. The concept consists of a space-borne radar installed on a cubeSat flying at low altitude and detecting the occultations of radio signals coming from existing satellites flying at higher altitudes. The paper investigates the feasibility and performance of such a passive bistatic radar system. Key performance metrics considered in this paper are: the minimum size of detectable objects, considering visibility and frequency constraints on existing radio sources, the receiver size, and the compatibility with current cubeSat's technology. Different illuminator types and receiver altitudes are considered under the assumption that all illuminators and receivers are on circular orbits.
ISSN:0018-9251
1557-9603
DOI:10.1109/TAES.2018.2848340