Distributed Satellite Resource Management for Mission Operations

ABSTRACT: AFRL has performed basic research in Space Situational Awareness (SSA) for many years. With the successful execution of multiple programs during the past few years, AFRL has become the de facto center of mass in the SSA research and development community. Perhaps one of the most critical areas of SSA is that of satellite conjunction analysis (CA). While CA has been performed operationally for some time, new requirements demand that more efficient approaches be investigated. In particular, improved sensor capabilities within the USAF Space Surveillance Network (SSN) indicate that the size of the orbital satellite catalog will increase dramatically, overwhelming the ability of existing operational CA tools to run in real-time. The objectives of Continuous Anomalous Orbital Situation Determination (CAOS-D) are to identify and develop advanced algorithms for orbital conjunction analysis and to provide a platform in which to efficiently and objectively evaluate such algorithms. The ISS Team proposes radically new approaches to conjunction analysis in an effort to provide an improved space picture to the operators. The second phase of CAOS-D builds on the performance improvements made in the first phase and focuses on new algorithms for CA. By using the architecture developed in Phase I, the ISS Team will be able to implement and evaluate new algorithms with greater ease and efficiency. BENEFIT: CAOS-D will provide a configurable platform for conjunction analysis in a net-centric environment that will be compatible with forthcoming JSpOC Mission System (JMS) architecture. In Phase I, CAOS-D achieved partial integration with the JMS UDOP. This integration showed how a user can interact with CAOS-D and configure it to evaluate various conjunction algorithms. After completing the distributed process control, visualization and astrodynamic assessment algorithms in Phase II, CAOS-D will provide a system that will be usable by operational organizations and transitionable to programs of record. Commercial applications of CAOS-D include currently envisioned SSA and Defensive Counter Space (DCS) systems such as the JSpOC Mission System (JMS) as well as current technical customers such as Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) A9.