Activities of PMO optical space debris survey

Space debris division of PMO is devoted to play an important role in the research of orbital mechanics and the development of space debris observation techniques in China. To support the work, this division builds and operates a large optical network across China. The observational network include two major subsets, large field survey telescopes and precise tracking telescopes. The main objective of the network is to maintain cataloged orbital debris and detect uncatalogued debris. CHES at YaoAn site is the most recent facility, for higher orbits survey. New operational software and data pipeline that aims at detecting unresolved objects has being developed. This paper presents the details of this facility and related activities.

Key words
telescope; survey; data reduction; space domain awareness

Authorship

ZHANG CHEN

Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO), No. 10 Yuanhua Road, Qixia District, 210023, Nanjing, ChinaPurple Mountain Observatory (PMO)ChinaNanjing, ChinaPurple Mountain Observatory (PMO), No. 10 Yuanhua Road, Qixia District, 210023, Nanjing, China

University of Science and Technology of China, No. 96, JinZhai Road Baohe District, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, ChinaUniversity of Science and Technology of ChinaChinaAnhui, ChinaUniversity of Science and Technology of China, No. 96, JinZhai Road Baohe District, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, China

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9583-263X

ZHAO CHANGYIN

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4084-9282

Correspondence to: Zhang Chen E-mail: zhangchen@pmo.ac.cn

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Zhao Changyin conceived of the presented idea of the whole optical suvery program for space domain awareness, and devised the project of the optical telescope array. Zhang Chen worked out almost all the technical details on the latest facility CHES-YaoAn, including the system integration, software engineering, pipeline development and the writing of the manuscript.

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Figures

Figures (15)