{"id":67336,"date":"2017-09-08T17:10:10","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T09:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/sda-chairman-on-the-new-sdc-2-0-space-traffic-management-service\/"},"modified":"2017-09-08T17:10:10","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T09:10:10","slug":"sda-chairman-on-the-new-sdc-2-0-space-traffic-management-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/sda-chairman-on-the-new-sdc-2-0-space-traffic-management-service\/","title":{"rendered":"SDA Chairman on the New SDC 2.0 Space Traffic Management Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Recent studies have presented higher probabilities of in-orbit spacecraft collision risk compared to previous models, according to Space Data Association <\/strong>(SDA) Chairman Mark Dickinson. In light of these findings, Via Satellite <\/em>spoke with Dickinson about the consortiums\u2019 plans to improve our visibility into Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). Specifically, Dickinson went over SDA\u2019s recent signing of a long-term agreement with Analytical Graphics, Inc. <\/strong>(AGI) to launch an upgraded Space Data Center (SDC) Space Traffic Management (STM) service, called SDC 2.0.<\/p>\n

According to Dickinson, SDC 2.0 will leverage additional datasets compared to SDC 1.0, including measurements from AGI\u2019s Commercial Space Operations Center (ComSpOC), to improve Space Situational Awareness (SSA) for operators with assets in GEO. The previous system combined operator-provided information on their satellite\u2019s location with public data sourced from the Joint Space Operations Center <\/strong>(JSpOC). But that \u201ccame with a number of limitations,\u201d Dickinson said, \u201cin terms of accuracy, the ability to propagate orbits, and follow up after maneuvers.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the major advantages of SDC 2.0 over its predecessor is the level of data processing it offers. \u201cEspecially with these all-electric satellites which maneuver multiple times a day, you need quite sophisticated software processing power to be able to get a realistic orbital state for each object,\u201d said Dickinson.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"Mark
Mark Dickinson, SDA Chairman. Photo: Inmarsat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The key feature of SDC 2.0\u2019s data processing is that it produces not just orbit estimates, but realistic approximations of how accurate those estimates are. \u201cIt tells you where things are and it tells you how well it knows where those things are. That statistical information feeds into everything else,\u201d explained AGI vice president Paul Welsh. \u201cAll active satellites maneuver. In today\u2019s world, many more are moving more frequently. Maintaining good orbital states after maneuvers, which was an identified shortcoming [of SDC 1.0] is also addressed with this new processing technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welsh however pointed out that the biggest difference between the SDC 2.0 and the legacy system is that they pull from different sets of data, with SDC 1.0 relying largely on \u201cdata at the ephemeris level.\u201d That sometimes resulted in discrepancies in accuracy and position, Welsh said, which are the critical tenets of any STM system. \u201cThis new system \u2026 fuses data at the observational level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Dickinson, by pulling in and analyzing data from additional sensors, SDC 2.0 will be able to account for the sometimes-inaccurate information provided by operators about their own assets. \u201cThe studies we undertook showed that most operators have some sort of [timing] bias in their ground network \u2026 We looked across a large number of satellites and found an average inaccuracy of about 3 km from where the satellite really was versus where the operator said it was,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we talk about combining operator data with other data, sometimes operator data still needs to be validated.\u201d<\/p>\n

SDC 2.0 also introduces features to help mitigate the disruptions from Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) events. According to Dickinson, all SDA members will securely integrate their payload configuration information into the system. \u201cIf there is an RFI event, you can query this database and it will tell you whether there are any SDA member satellites close by that may be able to help you geolocate the source of that interference,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to take this coordination time \u2014 sometimes it can take days \u2014 down to just a matter of a few hours, so you can quickly resolve these RFI issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, SDC 2.0 will store a carrier ID database \u2014 essentially a unique code integrated in each operator\u2019s signals \u2014 so that SDA members can be identified if they themselves are the source of unintentional RFI.<\/p>\n

Although SDC 2.0 currently focuses on SSA for GEO and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) assets, Dickinson noted that SDA will likely expand the organization\u2019s purview to incorporate some of the newer Low Earth Orbit (LEO) entrants as well. \u201cOn our roadmap is certainly the intent to provide the same type of services that we do for GEO operators for other orbital regimes as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sensors we have feeding [SDC 2.0] are fully capable of tracking things at LEO as well,\u201d added Welsh. In the future, SDA will likely take a similar approach to its current model by coalescing \u201ckey constituents\u201d to work alongside AGI and SDA to expand the service to LEO satellites. \u201cIt\u2019s fully within our sights and within existing capabilities. The processing is regime-independent; it\u2019s really just a question of getting the right group of operators together and working out the details,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recent studies have presented higher probabilities of in-orbit spacecraft collision risk compared to previous models, according to Space Data Association (SDA) Chairman Mark Dickinson. In light of these findings, Via Satellite spoke with Dickinson about the consortiums\u2019 plans to improve our visibility into Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). Specifically, Dickinson went over SDA\u2019s recent signing of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}