The knowledge of what lies in orbit around Earth is at best a guess. Decades of spaceflight, debris buildup, and vehicle collisions have contributed to a large number of objects that are simply not able to be catalogued. Ongoing efforts to catalog debris in orbit have reached limits by conventional measures and as such, research is active in the field of in-orbit space situational awareness. This thesis intends to help fill a hole in the development of such orbital platforms by assisting the development of image processing software pipelines though the simulation of unresolved space imagery. The simulation uses accurate satellite propagation coupled with an extensive star catalog to allow for a realistic view of how objects should appear to an orbital platform. To prove this, a simulation and rendering tool was developed to showcase the need for simulated data when validating software designed to process unresolved imagery. From orbital propagation to rendering and rasterizing objects on a camera sensor, the start to finish process is fully encapsulated by the designed tool. Although this is a first iteration, the tool proved the potential for even more robust methods of data generation for the validation of image processing software pipelines and can only gain accuracy as development continues.
","abstract_html":"<p>The knowledge of what lies in orbit around Earth is at best a guess. Decades of spaceflight, debris buildup, and vehicle collisions have contributed to a large number of objects that are simply not able to be catalogued. Ongoing efforts to catalog debris in orbit have reached limits by conventional measures and as such, research is active in the field of in-orbit space situational awareness. This thesis intends to help fill a hole in the development of such orbital platforms by assisting the development of image processing software pipelines though the simulation of unresolved space imagery. The simulation uses accurate satellite propagation coupled with an extensive star catalog to allow for a realistic view of how objects should appear to an orbital platform. To prove this, a simulation and rendering tool was developed to showcase the need for simulated data when validating software designed to process unresolved imagery. From orbital propagation to rendering and rasterizing objects on a camera sensor, the start to finish process is fully encapsulated by the designed tool. Although this is a first iteration, the tool proved the potential for even more robust methods of data generation for the validation of image processing software pipelines and can only gain accuracy as development continues.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Coniglario, Fox"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-10-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-10-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:22Z","subjects":["aerospace engineering","resident space objects","image processing","object rendering","Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces","Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics","Other Aerospace Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/949","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Coniglario, Fox"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["aerospace engineering","resident space objects","image processing","object rendering","Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces","Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics","Other Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/949"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The knowledge of what lies in orbit around Earth is at best a guess. Decades of spaceflight, debris buildup, and vehicle collisions have contributed to a large number of objects that are simply not able to be catalogued. Ongoing efforts to catalog debris in orbit have reached limits by conventional measures and as such, research is active in the field of in-orbit space situational awareness. This thesis intends to help fill a hole in the development of such orbital platforms by assisting the development of image processing software pipelines though the simulation of unresolved space imagery. The simulation uses accurate satellite propagation coupled with an extensive star catalog to allow for a realistic view of how objects should appear to an orbital platform. To prove this, a simulation and rendering tool was developed to showcase the need for simulated data when validating software designed to process unresolved imagery. From orbital propagation to rendering and rasterizing objects on a camera sensor, the start to finish process is fully encapsulated by the designed tool. Although this is a first iteration, the tool proved the potential for even more robust methods of data generation for the validation of image processing software pipelines and can only gain accuracy as development continues.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Unresolved Image Simulation for Space Situational Awareness Applications"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Coniglario, Fox"],"dc:description.abstract":["The knowledge of what lies in orbit around Earth is at best a guess. Decades of spaceflight, debris buildup, and vehicle collisions have contributed to a large number of objects that are simply not able to be catalogued. Ongoing efforts to catalog debris in orbit have reached limits by conventional measures and as such, research is active in the field of in-orbit space situational awareness. This thesis intends to help fill a hole in the development of such orbital platforms by assisting the development of image processing software pipelines though the simulation of unresolved space imagery. The simulation uses accurate satellite propagation coupled with an extensive star catalog to allow for a realistic view of how objects should appear to an orbital platform. To prove this, a simulation and rendering tool was developed to showcase the need for simulated data when validating software designed to process unresolved imagery. From orbital propagation to rendering and rasterizing objects on a camera sensor, the start to finish process is fully encapsulated by the designed tool. Although this is a first iteration, the tool proved the potential for even more robust methods of data generation for the validation of image processing software pipelines and can only gain accuracy as development continues.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/949"],"dc:subject":["aerospace engineering","resident space objects","image processing","object rendering","Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces","Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics","Other Aerospace Engineering"],"dc:title":["Unresolved Image Simulation for Space Situational Awareness Applications"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:22Z"}