Colloquium: Niek Schouten (Space Flight)

This thesis tackles the challenge of space debris tracking by developing and evaluating radar-based Initial Orbit Determination (IOD) algorithms and optimized measurement strategies. Space debris tracking is crucial for space missions and must function without cooperation from the tracked objects. The study assessed the batch least squares estimator (BLSE), extended Kalman filter (EKF), unscented Kalman filter (UKF), and unscented batch estimator (UBE) using simulated and real radar data from the Sentinel-1A satellite. The UBE algorithm showed the best performance with the lowest root-mean-square error (RMSE) and fastest convergence. Four radar measurement strategies were evaluated, with the inbound-CPA-outbound method and varying radar update times proving most effective. The impact of excluding specific radar measurements on orbit estimation accuracy was also investigated, revealing that a combination of range and angle measurements yielded the most accurate results.

Supervisor: Steve Gehly