Expermental Observations of Space Debris Integrating Laser Ranging and Optical Direction Measurement

In monitoring space debris the technology of diffuse reflection laser ranging has more potential applications than traditional laser ranging technologies. At present, this technology is still in an experimental stage so that the orbits of objects can hardly be determined only using ranging data from a single station. This restricts its applications. According to the theory of orbit determination the success rate and reliability of orbit determination can be improved substantially if constraints on the tangential motion of an object are available during its laser ranging measurement. We hereby present a scheme of observation integrating diffuse reflection laser ranging and object direction measurement. We have made a test system of the scheme by installing a photographic equipment with a short focal length and a large field of view to the 60cm satellite laser ranging telescope system of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. We carried out experimental observations with the system by choosing the satellite Ajisai as the object. The purpose of the experimental observations is to examine the feasibility of the scheme and assess the accuracy of direction measurement. The results show that the scheme is feasible and the accuracy of direction measurement for the satellite Ajisai reaches 5 arcseconds.