Paper Category: Situational Awareness
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Ensuring Orbital Safety from T-0: The Critical Imperative for Immediate Post-Launch Collision Avoidance
As the density of the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment increases, driven by frequent rideshare missions and the deployment of mega-constellations, the initial phase of satellite operations has emerged as a period of heightened orbital risk. Historically, collision avoidance (COLA) processes have relied on established tracking by Space Situational Awareness (SSA) providers. However, this study…
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OLAF: a Swarm of Microsatellites for Active Debris Removal by Space-based Laser Ablation
Small debris objects (1 mm–10 cm) pose a considerable risk to active spacecraft, potentially causing mission-critical damage as they can reach relative impact velocities of 15 km/s in LEO. ESA’s latest Space Environment Report estimates more than 130 million objects in this size range residing in LEO, the majority of which cannot be tracked by…
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Decentralized Operational Framework for Autonomous Space Traffic Management in High-Drag VLEO Environments
The rapid expansion of Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) constellations introduces significant complexities in orbital maintenance due to non-conservative forces, primarily stochastic atmospheric drag. Traditional centralized Space Traffic Management (STM) architectures, which rely on batch-processed updates and human-in-the-loop decision making, are increasingly incapable of managing the high-frequency station-keeping maneuvers required in these altitudes. This paper…
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A Data Fusion Framework for Real-Time GNSS Availability Assessment Under Combined Space Weather and Terrestrial Interference
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have become critical infrastructure for autonomous platforms across space, maritime, and ground domains. Historically, GNSS accuracy degradation was primarily attributed to natural phenomena—ionospheric disturbances, scintillation, and solar activity. However, modern operational environments increasingly face terrestrial threats including intentional jamming, spoofing, and regional denial zones. Current mission planning tools address these…
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Integrated Cyberattack Detection for Satellites
Next-generation satellites are evolving into highly interconnected cyber-physical platforms, where heterogeneous subsystems, widespread adoption of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components, and emerging multi-tenant payload paradigms fundamentally reshape the spacecraft threat landscape. These trends erode traditional trust assumptions and necessitate autonomous onboard cybersecurity mechanisms capable of detecting, localising, and mitigating attacks without reliance on continuous ground intervention.…
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AI-Based Navigation for Lunar Satellites in VLLO
This paper presents the design and preliminary validation of the Lunar Intelligent Navigation via Neural Architecture (LINNA) payload, a technology demonstration integrated into the SelenITA mission—Brazil’s first lunar CubeSat. The experiment is motivated by the future needs for autonomous state estimation in the Very Low Lunar Orbit (VLLO) regime, where Mascon-induced gravitational anomalies challenge traditional…
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CubeSat ISR Constellation Mission Tailoring
This paper presents a modelling framework for Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) CubeSat constellation combining optical payload and Software Defined Radio (SDR). The concept satellite is 8-16U depending on the payload resolution and presence of warm-gas propulsion allowing for orbital changes and station keeping extending the operational time. Deployed in 500-km Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO), the…