Space surveillance architecture: issues and challenges – an integrated approach

Abstract

The object of this study is space surveillance activity and the information systems involved for actors and national security organizations. Near and Deep Space Surveillance areas are presented, the former dealing with artificial objects and the latter the inner planetary system, including asteroids and its exploration and exploitation. (Near Space includes the upper layers of the atmosphere (thermosphere, exosphere) and the magnetosphere up to the limits of the magnetopause (6–15 R_E). Deep Space refers to the space after the magnetopause and practically up to the limits of the Kuiper belt, about 50 A.U.) Due to the different matter of each area, the two sectors cannot have a common system for surveillance. The ever-increasing interest in natural resource extraction from the asteroid belt, the Moon, and Near-Earth Objects, combined with the explosive growth of the number of satellite commercial applications, makes the development and interconnection of the two distinct sector systems a necessity. This study describes the surveillance systems, the available technologies and methods, and develops a comprehensive oversight proposal.