Recreating the OSIRIS-REx Slingshot Manoeuvre from a Network of Ground-Based Sensors

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a networked optical tracking system using wide field-of-view imagers to accurately determine the trajectory of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft during a lunar flyby, showcasing the potential of portable ground-based sensors for space situational awareness.

Contribution

The study introduces a network of lightweight, portable sensors with wide field-of-view optics for tracking spacecraft, achieving high-precision orbit determination from ground-based observations.

Findings

Detected 2,090 observations from 15,439 images

Orbit determination within 10 km of telemetry over 109,262 km

Validated networked optical tracking for space situational awareness

Abstract

Optical tracking systems typically trade-off between astrometric precision and field-of-view. In this work, we showcase a networked approach to optical tracking using very wide field-of-view imagers that have relatively low astrometric precision on the scheduled OSIRIS-REx slingshot manoeuvre around Earth on September 22nd, 2017. As part of a trajectory designed to get OSIRIS-REx to NEO 101955 Bennu, this flyby event was viewed from 13 remote sensors spread across Australia and New Zealand to promote triangulatable observations. Each observatory in this portable network was constructed to be as lightweight and portable as possible, with hardware based off the successful design of the Desert Fireball Network. Over a 4 hour collection window, we gathered 15,439 images of the night sky in the predicted direction of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Using a specially developed streak detection and orbit determination data pipeline, we detected 2,090 line-of-sight observations. Our fitted orbit was determined to be within about 10~km of orbital telemetry along the observed 109,262~km length of OSIRIS-REx trajectory, and thus demonstrating the impressive capability of a networked approach to SSA.