Advanced Estimation and Data Fusion Strategies for Space Surveillance/Reconnaissance

ABSTRACT:In this Phase II program, Numerica will lead the transition of two software packages for resolving uncorrelated tracks (UCTs) in space, namely AFRL's Constrained Admissible Region Multiple Hypothesis Filter (CAR-MHF) and Numerica's Multiple Frame Assignment Multiple Hypothesis Tracker (MFA-MHT), to the Space Situational Awareness Laboratory and to the Distributed Space Command and Command Center at Dahlgren (DSC2-D). The work will entail (i) conversion of the CAR-MHF and MFA-MHT codebases to a production-level real-time computing language to improve runtime performance and comply with DSC2-D's software requirements; (ii) providing uninterrupted support for testing and data processing activities throughout the duration of the program and making software enhancements to improve runtime and performance based on these activities; (iii) upgrading the CAR-MHF and MFA-MHT user interfaces to allow ease-of-use by the Dahlgren operators; and (iv) providing documentation and project support including user's manuals of CAR-MHF and MFA-MHT that meet DSC2-D's documentation requirements. The envisioned end result would be the provision of two independent UCT processing tools, deployed in the operational environment of DSC2-D, that would advance the U.S.'s space superiority through improved UCT resolution and maintaining custody of all objects in space.BENEFIT:A next-generation operational system for space surveillance will need to leverage data from all sensors, especially in the GEO regime of space, to support DSC2-D (i.e., Dahlgren) and the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) in providing more automated UCT processing, better prediction capabilities especially for high area-to-mass ratio objects, and ultimately a more comprehensive space catalog containing smaller, dimmer, deep-space, and hard-to-acquire objects. The two software packages that will be transitioned to DS2C-2 under this Phase II, namely CAR-MHF and MFA-MHT, would enhance military capability for UCT resolution operations in support of the GEO Odyssey program and the needs described above. A secondary transition under consideration, subject to the limitations of funding, is the third increment of the JSpOC Mission System (JMS) through the Advanced Research, Collaboration, and Application Development Environment (ARCADE).