The UK Space Agency offers orbital awareness

New approaches to tracking satellites and debris in orbit will be promoted by the UK Space Agency.

The UKSA will provide કંપની 1 million to seven companies to assist with novel sensor technologies and smart algorithms needed to interpret their data.

Finding better ways to survey overhead moving objects and budgets has become a high priority.

As more and more satellites launch, concerns about the possibility of collisions are growing.

A major concern is the growing population of additional hardware and orbital waste – by some calculations 1 cm. More than 900,000 objects, and all of them are capable of severely damaging or destroying operational spacecraft in high-velocity encounters.

Projects supported by UKSA come from a mix of start-ups and more established companies.

The overriding goal is to improve the way we find, characterize, and track spot objects.

Ultimately, this is information that could be fed into the future automated traffic management system that will keep the work of satellites out of the way of damage.

Funded projects include:

• To pick me up: Develop machine-learning and artificial intelligence techniques to differentiate between satellites and space junk.
• Fujitsu: To develop machine-learning approaches and quantum-inspired processes to improve debris removal mission planning.
• Dimos And Northern Space and Security: To develop a new range of optical sensors, both for tracking space objects from the UK.
• Indore: To increase the sensitivity and speed of its camera detector technology for mapping and tracking small debris.
• D-Orbit UK: To improve the use of recently launched sensors to obtain images of objects moving around the spacecraft and to demonstrate its properties.
• Lumi Space: The company is again developing laser ranging technology to find, characterize and accurately track objects in orbit.

“We have known for a long time that the atmosphere in space is becoming more difficult, more turbulent,” said Jacobs Gir of the UKSA. “Space surveillance and tracking is what we can now do to protect dependent satellites, and make sure that certain orbits will not be inaccessible for future generations because they contain so much debris.

“We had 26 proposals and I think we have chosen a good cross-section of ideas among the seven companies we are supporting,” he said.

While many of these projects are still in the lab stage, D-Orbit’s work is already in space dedicated to advancing some of its hardware capabilities.

The company recently launched a vehicle to carry and deploy a clutch of small satellites. The vehicle uses cameras to create stellar maps for photographs and navigation purposes around it.

The idea is to use a camera image to identify junk passing through D-Orbit.

“One of the challenges in using Star Trekkers is to filter out objects that aren’t supposed to be there – obviously, because you’re trying to compare what you see to your list of stars,” explained Simon Reid of D-BitRbit. -bit Simon Reid of Rabbit explained. “And, of course, those extra budgets are the main potential debris.”

The announcement of funding is also consistent with the signing of a new partnership agreement between the Ministry of Defense and the UKSA to work together on space domain awareness.

Both orbits have valuable assets and interests that need to be protected. And for UK taxpayers, the investment was further deepened by the recent bankruptcy of OneWeb Satellite Broadband Company.

The UK government now owns part of the largest spacecraft network in the sky. OneWeb has so far launched 74 satellites in its communications constellation, with plans to place thousands more.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “Millions of space junk pieces orbiting the Earth pose a significant threat to UK satellite systems, providing vital services ranging from mobile communications to weather forecasting.

“By developing new AI and sensor technology, the seven leading space projects we are supporting today will significantly strengthen the UK’s capabilities to monitor these hazardous space objects, help create new jobs and the services we rely on in our daily lives. We will help protect it. ”

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