Status of CNES optical observations of space debris in geostationary orbit Original Research Article

On-ground optical systems using a telescope and a CCD camera offer an effective solution to the problem of observing objects in geostationary orbit. CNES has been studying and developing such systems for several years with two main objectives: firstly to develop systems able to detect debris in the vicinity of the geostationary orbit for statistical evaluation of the population and secondly to develop a tool to determine the orbits accurately: these objectives are currently met using two different systems called TAROT and ROSACE. This paper presents the main characteristics of both systems, the principle of their image processing software, their development status and the main results obtained. Finally, perspectives for further developments and coupling of the two systems are presented.