SBIR Phase I: Space Object Tracking Unit

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过使空间资产运营商和所有者的透明度，问责制和可预测性变得容易和简单，从而实现空间生态系统的可持续增长。在未来十年，人类将发射更多的物体进入轨道，比整个太空探索历史上发射的还要多。目前的系统没有足够的设备来管理增加的交通，防撞模型需要更好的数据来扩展。没有明确的、持久的和低成本的手段来识别、跟踪和排除发射到轨道上的资产。拟议的系统将填补这一空白，使客户能够轻松简单地成为轨道领域的良好管理者，并实现与卫星的故障安全通信。拟议的系统将大大提高空间数据的质量，以帮助避免碰撞，并防止由于无法识别新发射的资产而产生不必要的“空间垃圾”。这一小企业创新研究项目第一阶段旨在填补现有系统的能力空白，通过建立一个激光信标，即空间轨道跟踪装置，支持空间经济的爆炸性增长。目前的信标系统依赖于无线电频率通信，这对于小型卫星来说过于庞大，导致干扰问题，并且需要管理机构的许可证。所提出的解决方案通过使用低功率光信号绕过了现有技术的限制。这种信号是从一个与小型卫星兼容的微型设备发送的，这使得采用轨道上的主要形状因素变得简单。研究目标包括电子系统的小型化，模拟信标和探测器之间的光链路，并确定电源/发电的最佳配置，使信标不会占用主机资源。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to enable sustainable growth of the space ecosystem by making transparency, accountability, and predictability easy and simple for space asset operators and owners. Over the next decade, mankind will launch more objects into orbit than have launched in the entire history of space exploration. Current systems are not adequately equipped to manage the increased traffic and collision avoidance models need better data to scale. There are no unambiguous, persistent, and low-cost means to identify, track, and troubleshoot assets launched into orbit. The proposed system would fill this gap by making it easy and simple for customers to be good stewards of the orbital domain and enable fail-safe communications with a satellite. The proposed system would significantly increase the quality of space data to help avoid collisions and prevent unnecessary “space junk” due to an inability to identify newly-launched assets. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to fill the capability gap of current systems to support the explosive growth of the space economy by building a laser beacon that is a space orbit tracking unit. Current beacon systems rely on radio frequency communications, which are too bulky for small satellites, contribute to interference problems, and require a license from governing agencies. The proposed solution bypasses the limitations of the state-of-the-art by using a low-power optical signal. This signal is sent from a tiny device compatible with small satellites which makes adoption simple for the predominant form-factor on orbit. Research goals include miniaturization of the electronic systems, modeling the optical link between beacon and detector, and determining optimal configuration for the power supply/generation so the beacon does not draw host resources.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.