Ricerc@Sapienza

Nowadays, the space debris issue is on top of the list of all space agency in the world. Even more so with the advent of the new space economy which will increase even more the number of objects around the Earth and consequently impact risk between operative satellite and space debris. S5Lab has developed several tools in order to identify, classify and monitor object in orbit. Measurements acquisition occurs by means of a network of telescope around the Earth surface.

In recent years, the increase in space activities has brought the space debris issue to the top of the list of all space agencies. The fact of there being uncontrolled objects is a problem both for the operational satellites in orbit (avoiding collisions) and for the safety of people on the ground (re-entry objects). Optical systems provide valuable assistance in identifying and monitoring such objects. The Sapienza Space System and Space Surveillance (S5Lab) has been working in this field for years, being able to take advantage of a network of telescopes spread over different continents.

The constant increase of the amount of space debris is becoming a threat for both ground and space infrastructures. The non-negligible risks of collisions in orbit, involving possible damages for active space systems, and concerns over re-entry of large objects are leading to an increasing international interest in Space Surveillance and Tracking.

Optical observations represent a passive method for space debris tracking and monitoring. Although being con- strained to limited time intervals, e.g. when the target is in sunlight and the observatory is in darkness, a debris observatory network distributed over multiple locations can improve the observational interval and favor the data integration for more consistent and significant results.

The increasing number of small satellite cluster launches leads to a greater risk of confusion and collision soon after their deployment in orbit. In particular, the possibility to identify each CubeSat and to monitor their trajectories with passive optical methods could allow mitigating the possibilities of impacts among them. Thus, several researches in this field are currently on-going to improve the capabilities in space surveillance for satellite early identification.