In-situ debris measurements in GEO through optical surface inspection

A development of an onboard camera system for in-situ measurement of micro space debris in geostationary earth orbit is described in this paper. Distribution of small space debris in and near geostationary orbit is not known well, because they cannot be seen from ground-based facilities nor retrieving surface specimens of space crafts impacted by them is nearly impossible, different from that in low earth orbit. We had proposed a concept of in-situ debris measurement system to observe micro debris environment in and near geostationary orbit. It is a piggyback visual inspection system on geostationary satellite, which autonomously detects impacted features created on the surface of the mother satellite and sends its picture to a ground-based facility for further analyses. In this study, an experimental model of the inspection system was developed to show feasibility of such a concept of in-situ measurement of the micro debris. Some experiments are performed to verify the basic functions of it, autonomous finding and taking detailed picture of the impacted features on the target surface. Results of them successfully show the feasibility of this concept of in-situ measurement system.