Commercial-off-the-shelf event-based cameras for space surveillance applications

Area of Science:

• Space Domain Awareness (SDA)
• Sensor Technology
• Astrophysics

Background:

• Event-based cameras (EBCs) offer asynchronous, low-latency data capture, ideal for space domain awareness (SDA) due to potential data reduction.
• Constraints in satellite platforms for power, processing, and bandwidth make EBCs an attractive option for SDA.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Event-based cameras (EBCs) for Space Domain Awareness (SDA).
• To develop and compare an analytical limiting magnitude model with empirical measurements for EBCs.

Main Methods:

• Developed an analytical limiting magnitude model incorporating sky background radiance and EBC parameters.
• Conducted empirical tests using Prophesee third-generation EBCs with varying lens configurations.
• Assessed detection limits at specific sky background levels and evaluated performance under different object motion speeds.

Main Results:

• Measured detection limits of 6.9 and 9.8 visual magnitudes (mV) for HVGA and VGA EBCs, respectively, at a sky background of 20.3 mV/arcsec².
• The VGA EBC's empirical sensitivity limit closely matched the analytical prediction (0.1 mV difference).
• No stars were detected when scanning faster than 0.5 deg/sec with a VGA-EBC and 200 mm f/2.0 lens.

Conclusions:

• Current COTS EBCs have sensitivity limitations preventing their use as replacements for traditional CCD/CMOS sensors in SDA.
• EBCs demonstrate significant potential for small-aperture, large-field persistent SDA applications due to efficient temporal information capture.