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In-situ observations of resident space objects with the CHEOPS space telescope

Billot, N. ; Davies, M.B. LU ; Korth, J. LU and Wilson, T.G. (2024) In Journal of Space Safety Engineering 11(3). p.498-506
Abstract
The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) is a partnership between the European Space Agency and Switzerland with important contributions by 10 additional ESA member States. It is the first S-class mission in the ESA Science Programme. CHEOPS has been flying on a Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit since December 2019, collecting millions of short-exposure images in the visible domain to study exoplanet properties. A small yet increasing fraction of CHEOPS images show linear trails caused by resident space objects crossing the instrument field of view. CHEOPS’ orbit is indeed particularly favourable to serendipitously detect objects in its vicinity as the spacecraft rarely enters the Earth's shadow, sits at an altitude of 700 km, and... (More)
The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) is a partnership between the European Space Agency and Switzerland with important contributions by 10 additional ESA member States. It is the first S-class mission in the ESA Science Programme. CHEOPS has been flying on a Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit since December 2019, collecting millions of short-exposure images in the visible domain to study exoplanet properties. A small yet increasing fraction of CHEOPS images show linear trails caused by resident space objects crossing the instrument field of view. CHEOPS’ orbit is indeed particularly favourable to serendipitously detect objects in its vicinity as the spacecraft rarely enters the Earth's shadow, sits at an altitude of 700 km, and observes with moderate phase angles relative to the Sun. This observing configuration is quite powerful, and it is complementary to optical observations from the ground. To characterize the population of satellites and orbital debris observed by CHEOPS, all and every science images acquired over the past 3 years have been scanned with a Hough transform algorithm to identify the characteristic linear features that these objects cause on the images. Thousands of trails have been detected. This statistically significant sample shows interesting trends and features such as an increased occurrence rate over the past years as well as the fingerprint of the Starlink constellation. The cross-matching of individual trails with catalogued objects is underway as we aim to measure their distance at the time of observation and deduce the apparent magnitude of the detected objects. As space agencies and private companies are developing new space-based surveillance and tracking activities to catalogue and characterize the distribution of small debris, the CHEOPS experience is timely and relevant. With the first CHEOPS mission extension currently running until the end of 2026, and a possible second extension until the end of 2029, the longer time coverage will make our dataset even more valuable to the community, especially for characterizing objects with recurrent crossings. © 2024 (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Astronomy, Debris, Satellite, Telescope
in
Journal of Space Safety Engineering
volume
11
issue
3
pages
498 - 506
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85202493599
ISSN
2468-8975
DOI
10.1016/j.jsse.2024.08.005
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c98ca1da-5b94-4b28-9756-19e50b1d1f44
date added to LUP
2024-10-10 08:33:28
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:09:17
@article{c98ca1da-5b94-4b28-9756-19e50b1d1f44,
  abstract     = {{The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) is a partnership between the European Space Agency and Switzerland with important contributions by 10 additional ESA member States. It is the first S-class mission in the ESA Science Programme. CHEOPS has been flying on a Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit since December 2019, collecting millions of short-exposure images in the visible domain to study exoplanet properties. A small yet increasing fraction of CHEOPS images show linear trails caused by resident space objects crossing the instrument field of view. CHEOPS’ orbit is indeed particularly favourable to serendipitously detect objects in its vicinity as the spacecraft rarely enters the Earth's shadow, sits at an altitude of 700 km, and observes with moderate phase angles relative to the Sun. This observing configuration is quite powerful, and it is complementary to optical observations from the ground. To characterize the population of satellites and orbital debris observed by CHEOPS, all and every science images acquired over the past 3 years have been scanned with a Hough transform algorithm to identify the characteristic linear features that these objects cause on the images. Thousands of trails have been detected. This statistically significant sample shows interesting trends and features such as an increased occurrence rate over the past years as well as the fingerprint of the Starlink constellation. The cross-matching of individual trails with catalogued objects is underway as we aim to measure their distance at the time of observation and deduce the apparent magnitude of the detected objects. As space agencies and private companies are developing new space-based surveillance and tracking activities to catalogue and characterize the distribution of small debris, the CHEOPS experience is timely and relevant. With the first CHEOPS mission extension currently running until the end of 2026, and a possible second extension until the end of 2029, the longer time coverage will make our dataset even more valuable to the community, especially for characterizing objects with recurrent crossings. © 2024}},
  author       = {{Billot, N. and Davies, M.B. and Korth, J. and Wilson, T.G.}},
  issn         = {{2468-8975}},
  keywords     = {{Astronomy; Debris; Satellite; Telescope}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{498--506}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Space Safety Engineering}},
  title        = {{In-situ observations of resident space objects with the CHEOPS space telescope}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsse.2024.08.005}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jsse.2024.08.005}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}