Comparative Analysis of Resident Space Object (RSO) Detection Methods

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in satellite launches, resulting in a proliferation of satellites in our near-Earth space environment. This surge has led to a multitude of resident space objects (RSOs). Thus, detecting RSOs is a crucial element of monitoring these objects and plays an important role in preventing collisions between them. Optical images captured from spacecraft and with ground-based telescopes provide valuable information for RSO detection and identification, thereby enhancing space situational awareness (SSA). However, datasets are not publicly available due to their sensitive nature. This scarcity of data has hindered the development of detection algorithms. In this paper, we present annotated RSO images, which constitute an internally curated dataset obtained from a low-resolution wide-field-of-view imager on a stratospheric balloon. In addition, we examine several frame differencing techniques, namely, adjacent frame differencing, median frame differencing, proximity filtering and tracking, and a streak detection method. These algorithms were applied to annotated images to detect RSOs. The proposed algorithms achieved a competitive degree of success with precision scores of 73%, 95%, 95%, and 100% and F1 scores of 68%, 77%, 82%, and 79%.