University of Texas at Austin

Past Event: Babuška Forum

CSEM Challenges in Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management

Moriba K. Jah, Department of Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics, Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES)

10 – 11AM
Friday Apr 6, 2018

POB 6.304

Abstract

60 years after the launch of the first US Satellite, Explorer 1, the U.S. Department of Defense currently tracks nearly 23000 so-called Resident Space Objects (RSOs) ranging from the size of a softball to a school bus. Of these, only about 1500 are working satellites while the remainder is space debris. Not all sensor detections result in matches to known RSOs. Part of that is due to an absence of a globally shared data lake, and all of the RSOs are modeled as uniform spheres. Moreover, there is a new space race being fought in commercial landscapes given the wealth to be made via space-based platforms, from human-based activity monitoring and global internet to asteroid mining. However, there are no global laws regulating activities in space; we are absent any norms of behavior to help guarantee orbital safety and the long-term sustainability of the space environment for future generations. The Advanced Sciences and Technology Research in Astronautics (ASTRIA) program is led by Dr Moriba Jah, Associate Prof ASE/EM and ICES Affiliate Faculty. Dr Jah will explain these issues and provide methods for ICES/CSEM students to join this exciting and impactful research endeavor. Bio: Dr. Moriba Jah is an Associate Professor in the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department at the University of Texas at Austin, and directs the ASTRIA research program. His research interests are in non-gravitational astrodynamics and advanced/non-linear multi-sensor/object tracking, prediction, and information fusion. His expertise is in space object detection, tracking, identification, and characterization, as well as spacecraft navigation. Prior to being at UT Austin, Dr. Jah was the Director of the University of Arizona’s Space Object Behavioral Sciences with applications to Space Domain Awareness, Space Protection, Space Traffic Monitoring, and Space Debris research to name a few. Preceding that, Dr. Jah was the lead for the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Advanced Sciences and Technology Research Institute for Astronautics (ASTRIA) and a Principal Investigator for Detect/Track/Id/Characterize Program at AFRL’s Space Vehicles Directorate. Before joining AFRL he was a spacecraft navigator for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA, serving on Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express (joint mission with ESA), Mars Exploration Rovers, Hayabusa (joint mission with JAXA), and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Dr. Jah has served as a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS), provided formal expert testimony to congress, and is the chair of the NATO SCI-279-TG activity on defining a Common NATO Space Domain Awareness Operating Picture. Dr. Jah founded the American Astronautical Society’s (AAS) Space Surveillance Technical Committee and is the Chair of the AIAA Astrodynamics Technical Committee. He is a member of the Astrodynamics Technical Committee of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and a permanent member of the Space Debris Technical Committee of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). Dr. Jah is a Fellow of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), the AFRL, the AAS and the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), as well as an AIAA Associate Fellow, IEEE Senior Member, Associate Editor of Elsevier’s Advances in Space Research Journal.

Event information

Date
10 – 11AM
Friday Apr 6, 2018
Location POB 6.304
Hosted by