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Bart Kieboom

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Surveillance Strategies for LEO Catalogue Generation using Ground-based Optical Sensors

Master thesis (2025) - J.T. Barens, S. Gehly, Bart Kieboom
The growing population of objects in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) presents challenges for space situational awareness and catalogue maintenance. Ground-based optical surveillance strategies for LEO catalogue generation were evaluated, comparing fixed-pattern scanning methods against a two-phase Probabilistic Admissible Region (PAR) approach using SPOOK simulations and Airbus Robotic Telescope validation.

For LEO targets, baseline scanning achieved 0.0116% detection rates and zero redetections, while PAR achieved 23.71% redetection rates across 194 attempts, enabling initial orbit determination. Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) validation revealed regime-dependence. Baseline methods achieved 49-62% MEO redetection versus 0% LEO, while PAR achieved 91.94% MEO versus 23.71% LEO.

Results establish that redetection effectiveness depends on orbital regime. For LEO, where rapid motion prevents fixed-pattern redetections, PAR-based approaches provide redetections for catalogue generation. For MEO, both strategies succeed though PAR maintains superior performance. ...