Dynamic Sensor Tasking for Space Situational Awareness

This paper examines the problem of tracking multiple spacecraft using a combination of ground- and space-based sensors. The problem is formulated in a simplified two-dimensional setting to reduce computational complexity while retaining elements of the problem that pose theoretical or practical difficulties (such as inverse square-law dynamics). As a baseline approach for comparision purposes, a centralized Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) estimator is used to provide position/velocity estimates of all tracked objects. These estimates and their associated covariances are used to execute a closed-loop sensor tasking approach to determine which sensors will track which objects. A tasking approach from the literature is utilized as a baseline methodology and compared to an ad-hoc modification which may offer improved performance in certain situations. The paper concludes with a numerical example demonstrating the approaches as well as a summary of avenues for future research.