Observability Analysis of Distributed Satellite Systems for Enhanced Space Situational Awareness

The increasing population of Resident Space Objects (RSOs) calls for enhanced Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) capabilities. Space surveillance sensors on board of Distributed Satellite Systems (DSS) can improve RSOs tracking and characterization, as they allow simultaneous multi-static observations under comparable illumination conditions. This paper investigates the potential contribution of DSS equipped with optical sensors to enhance SBSS performance. Surveillance capabilities of such systems are evaluated by determining the maximum observable range at which an RSO of interest can be detected and localized, while maintaining the resulting range estimation error below a specified threshold. To accomplish that, a multi-sensor triangulation algorithm is applied to synthetic measurements reproduced by means of a realistic simulation environment that accounts for observation constraints.