ANALYSIS OF THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF BUILDING AN INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS SYSTEM

摘要

There is a demonstrated need to provide the multitude of space actors a certain level of information about all the objects in orbit and the space environment to operate in a safe and sustainable manner. The collection of this information, called space situational awareness (SSA), is currently almost entirely the domain of a few national militaries and much of the data is kept from broad public dissemination. One approach to solving this problem would be to create an International Civil SSA (ICSSA) system where data from multiple actors, States, and commercial providers is voluntarily shared. Technical hurdles such as different propagators, data formats, sensor calibration and tasking, and data security pose significant challenges but are solvable. Mitigation strategies, such as deciding whether to base the ICSSA system on sharing of sensor observations or element sets, can be effective in surmounting these hurdles. Tradeoffs between technical capability and political viability can also play a significant role in the over system feasibility.