Explore the possibilities of SatNOGS for Space Situational Awareness (SSA)
Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is an activity ensuring the monitoring of space activities in order to have a common operational picture of space.One of the tools for this are RF ground stations (GS) which can be used to determine the orbital parameters of unknown spacecrafts emitting signals to the Earth. SatNOGS is an open-source participatory project with a set of software and hardware to create a network of ground stations. Thanks to the network of GS, there is a big potential for SSA and Space Traffic Management (STM).
Objectives
The objectives of the project are to explore the different assets that such a network can provide to improve and complement the knowledge of the current space situational image. Some of the goals are, but not limited to:
• Join the project and create a potential partnership using the EPFL antennas
• Get used of the proposed software and evaluate the need to develop addition software tools
• Analyze the potential benefit for SSA and STM
• Use their database to update the BDSE and create the necessary tools / API
Required skills
For the good realization of the project, it is recommended that the student have:
• Understanding in RF, antennas and signal processing
• Programming skills in Java or python
• General understanding of the orbital dynamics
• Ability to appraise and adapt the project to fulfill the needs of the Space Domain
• A sense of responsibility to provide the work quality to be used for everyday applications
Place of work
The student will have the opportunity to work in a stimulating environment with other students in different locations (Lausanne, Bern, Zurich) in Switzerland depending on the needs of the projects.