Daniel Kucharski

Attitude and Spin Period of Space Debris Envisat Measured by Satellite Laser Ranging

The Environmental Satellite (Envisat) mission was finished on April 8, 2012, and since that time, the attitude of the satellite has undergone significant changes. During the International Laser Ranging Service campaign, the Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) stations have performed the range measurements to the satellite that allowed determination of the attitude and the spin period of Envisat during seven months of 2013. The spin axis of the satellite is stable within the radial coordinate system (RCS; fixed with the orbit) and is pointing in the direction opposite to the normal vector of the orbital plane in such a way that the spin axis makes an angle of 61.86° with the nadir vector and 90.69° with the along-track vector. The offset between the symmetry axis of the retroreflector panel and the spin axis of the satellite is 2.52 m and causes the meter-scale oscillations of the range measurements between the ground SLR system and the satellite during a pass. Envisat rotates in the counterclockwise (CCW) direction, with an inertial period of 134.74 s (September 25, 2013), and the spin period increases by 36.7 ms/day.

The Impact of Solar Irradiance on AJISAI's Spin Period Measured by the Graz 2-kHz SLR System

The Graz kHz Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) system is the first system operating with a 2-kHz-repetition-rate laser. Using Graz 2-kHz SLR data only, we applied a new analytical approach to determine the spin period of the passive satellite AJISAI. This method analyzes the range measurements to the single corner-cube-reflector panels of AJISAI, allowing accurate determination of an actual attitude of this satellite during day and night. Using Graz kHz SLR data of more than five years, we processed 877 passes of AJISAI (October 9, 2003-December 22, 2008) and calculated its spin period ( ~ 2 s) with an accuracy of 0.0042% (84 ¿s). This spin period (T) is increasing, following an exponential trend:T =1.9028 ·Exp (0.014859 . (Year - 2003.0)) s. This slow down is mainly caused by the gravitational and magnetic fields of the Earth. The high accuracy allows, for the first time, the detection of small perturbations of the spin period caused by nongravitational effects related to the solar energy flux to which the satellite is exposed.

Gravity Probe-B: New Methods to Determine Spin Parameters From kHz SLR Data

Using kilohertz data of the satellite laser ranging (SLR) station Graz only, the spin parameters of the Gravity Probe-B (GP-B) satellite are derived; these include the spin period over the course of the 1.5-year mission period, as well as spin direction and spin axis orientation. The results are compared to the actual data sets-as determined by the GP-B mission itself-thus allowing independent confirmation of the kilohertz SLR derived results.

Spin Axis Precession of LARES Measured by Satellite Laser Ranging

Satellite laser ranging (SLR) is an efficient technique to measure spin parameters of the fully passive satellite LARES. Analysis of the laser range measurements gives information about the spin rate of the spacecraft and the orientation of its spin axis. A frequency analysis applied to the SLR data indicates an exponential increase of the satellites spin period: T = 11.7612 ·exp(0.00293327 ·D) , RMS = 0.115 s, where D is in days since launch. The initial spin period of LARES is calculated from the spin observations during the first 30 days after launch and is equal to T0 = 11.7131, RMS = 0.073 s. The spin axis of the satellite is precessing around the initial coordinates of right ascension RAinitial = 186.5°, RMSRA = 3.1°, and Declination Decinitial = - 73.0°, RMSDec = 0.7° (J2000 inertial reference frame), with a period of 211.7 days. The precession of the spin axis may be responsible for the observed oscillation of the slowing down rate: the spin half-life period (the time after which the spin period has doubled) varies between 209 and 267 days. The measured spin parameters of LARES are compared-and show good agreement-with the theoretical predictions given by the satellite spin model. Information about the spin parameters of LARES is necessary for the accurate modeling of the forces and torques that are affecting the orbital motion of the satellite.

Performance Analysis of the First Korean Satellite Laser Ranging System

The first Korean satellite laser ranging (SLR) system, Daedeok SLR station (DAEK station) was developed by Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) in 2012, whose main objectives are space geodesy researches. In consequence, Korea became the country that operates SLR system supplementing the international laser tracking network. The DAEK station is designed to be capable of 2 kHz laser ranging with precision of a few mm both in daytime and nighttime observation of satellites with laser retro-reflector array (LRA) up to the altitude of 25,000 km. In this study, characteristics and specifications of DAEK station are investigated and its data quality is evaluated and compared with International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) stations in terms of single-shot ranging precision. The analysis results demonstrated that the DAEK station shows good ranging performance to a few mm precision. Currently, the DAEK station is under normal operations at KASI headquarters, however, it will be moved to Sejong city in 2014 to function as a fundamental station for space geodesy researches in combination with other space geodesy systems (GNSS, VLBI, DORIS, etc.).

Orbit Determination Using SLR Data for STSAT-2C: Short-arc Analysis

In this study, we present the results of orbit determination (OD) using satellite laser ranging (SLR) data for the Science and Technology Satellite (STSAT)-2C by a short-arc analysis. For SLR data processing, the NASA/GSFC GEODYN II software with one year (2013/04 - 2014/04) of normal point observations is used. As there is only an extremely small quantity of SLR observations of STSAT-2C and they are sparsely distribution, the selection of the arc length and the estimation intervals for the atmospheric drag coefficients and the empirical acceleration parameters was made on an arc-to-arc basis. For orbit quality assessment, the post-fit residuals of each short-arc and orbit overlaps of arcs are investigated. The OD results show that the weighted root mean square post-fit residuals of short-arcs are less than 1 cm, and the average 1-day orbit overlaps are superior to 50/600/900 m for the radial/cross-track/along-track components. These results demonstrate that OD for STSAT-2C was successfully achieved with cm-level range precision. However its orbit quality did not reach the same level due to the availability of few and sparse measurement conditions. From a mission analysis viewpoint, obtaining the results of OD for STSAT-2C is significant for generating enhanced orbit predictions for more frequent tracking.

SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF BOROWIEC SLR DATA FOR SPIN DETERMINATION OF GEODETIC SATELLITE EGP

ABSTRACT Borowiec 10 Hz Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) station is capable to measure spin of the Japanese Experimental Geodetic Satellite (EGP). Spectral analysis of 391 passes measured from March 10, 1994 to November 27, 2009 gives frequency signal representing the 3rd and the 6th harmonics of the satellite spin rate. Analysis of this signal, corrected for the apparent effects, indicates en exponential slowing down of the satellite: the spin rate decreases according to the equation f = 671.115907 ・ exp(-4.08324 x 10-5 ・ D) [mHz], where D is a day after launch. More than 15 years of the SLR measurements allowed investigating the initial spin rate of the satellite fini = 671.116, RMS = 0.203 [mHz] (initial spin period Tini = 1.49006, RMS = 0.0007 [s]).

Graz kHz SLR LIDAR: first results

The Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) Station Graz is measuring routinely distances to satellites with a 2 kHz laser, achieving an accuracy of 2-3 mm. Using this available equipment, we developed - and added as a byproduct - a kHz SLR LIDAR for the Graz station: Photons of each transmitted laser pulse are backscattered from clouds, atmospheric layers, aircraft vapor trails etc. An additional 10 cm diameter telescope - installed on our main telescope mount - and a Single- Photon Counting Module (SPCM) detect these photons. Using an ISA-Bus based FPGA card - developed in Graz for the kHz SLR operation - these detection times are stored with 100 ns resolution (15 m slots in distance). Event times of any number of laser shots can be accumulated in up to 4096 counters (according to > 60 km distance). The LIDAR distances are stored together with epoch time and telescope pointing information; any reflection point is therefore determined with 3D coordinates, with 15 m resolution in distance, and with the angular precision of the laser telescope pointing. First test results to clouds in full daylight conditions - accumulating up to several 100 laser shots per measurement - yielded high LIDAR data rates (> 100 points per second) and excellent detection of clouds (up to 10 km distance at the moment). Our ultimate goal is to operate the LIDAR automatically and in parallel with the standard SLR measurements, during day and night, collecting LIDAR data as a byproduct, and without any additional expenses.