The Feasibility and Application of Observing Small LEO Satellites with Amateur Telescopes

<p>This thesis demonstrates that any individual can provide relevant observational data to further research efforts within the Aerospace community, through the use of amateur telescopes. A Meade LX200 12 in. telescope and Lumenera Skynyx 2.0 camera were utilized to observe small LEO satellites, using a well-documented point-and-wait staring method. Over a period of three months, a total of 186 observation attempts were made resulting in 97 successful captures. From the gathered data, three possible aerospace applications were analyzed: validation of a satellite brightness prediction model, angles-only orbit determination including extended Kalman filtering, and temporal error growth in TLE-based orbit propagation. Further investigations include a preliminary optimization using MATLAB's fmincon function (informed by the previous analyses) to determine an optimal telescope size for performing LEO observations.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MS in Aerospace Engineering

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Aerospace Engineering

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Schmalzel, Brock

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kira Abercromby

• Astrometry
• Photometry
• Orbit Determination
• Extended Kalman Filter
• Other Aerospace Engineering

Identifier

10.15368/theses.2013.158

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-2148