SBIR Phase I: Space Object Tracking Unit

这一小型企业创新研究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者和所有者更容易和更容易地实现透明度、问责制和可预测性，实现空间生态系统的可持续增长。在接下来的十年里，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物体还多。目前的系统没有足够的装备来管理增加的交通流量，防撞模型需要更好的数据来扩展。没有明确、持久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，使客户能够容易和简单地成为轨道域的良好管家，并实现与卫星的故障安全通信。拟议的系统将显著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的不必要的“空间垃圾”。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目旨在通过建造一个激光信标来填补当前系统的能力缺口，以支持空间经济的爆炸性增长，这是一个空间轨道跟踪单元。目前的信标系统依赖于无线电频率通信，这种通信对小卫星来说太大了，会造成干扰问题，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最新技术的限制。这个信号是从一个与小卫星兼容的微小设备发送的，这使得轨道上主要的外形因素的采用变得简单。研究目标包括电子系统的小型化，对信标和探测器之间的光学链路建模，以及确定电源/发电的最佳配置，以便信标不会吸引主机资源。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.