AAE researchers track near-Earth space objects
AAE Prof. Carolin Frueh is leading research on Space Situational Awareness and Satellite Navigation.
The POGS telescope is used for detection and tracking of near-Earth space objects
The Purdue Optical Ground Station (POGS) telescope of Frueh’s Space Information Dynamics (SID) Group is now fully operational. The telescope is located in New Mexico, a location that provides superior observation conditions.
The fully remotely controlled telescope is used for detection, tracking and characterization of near-Earth space objects, in particular human-made objects, such as satellites and space debris. It collects astrometric position data for detection and tracking, and color data and so-called light curves for object characterization.
It is also a testbed to showcase the performance of image processing, orbit determination, sensor tasking, information fusing and light curve inversion algorithms developed by the SID Group. The Group is in the process of having it operate fully autonomously without human interaction.