A team from the University of Texas at El Paso has received a grant from the U.S. Air Force’s Office of Scientific Research to study Unresolved Resident Space Objects, or USROs.
Under the leadership of Miguel Velez-Reyes, the group will use spectroscopy to identify physical properties of these objects, which cannot yet be clearly captured using ground-based telescopes, UTEP announced on Thursday.
“Through this project, we’re addressing the critical need of monitoring the space infrastructure for safe and sustainable operations,” explained Velez-Reyes, who currently serves as chair of the university’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
“Aside from the clear defense applications, our work will contribute to ensuring that space services such as GPS, weather satellites, satellite communication, among many others, continue operating in a safe environment supporting a high quality of life,” he added.
During the study, Velez-Reyes’ team will leverage remote sensing, physics-based simulation models, machine learning and laboratory experiments with telescope observations to build models and algorithms capable of determining various properties of URSOs, including material composition, structural health and object identity.
The research is expected to benefit the U.S. Space Force and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration as well as private sector entities. Information collected from the study will be used for monitoring space assets and traffic of objects within earth’s outer orbit. These activities are intended to maintain the security of critical space infrastructure and associated services.
The grant, called “The Science of Non-Resolved Space Object Signatures for Space Domain Awareness,” is valued at $5 million and was issued under the AFOSR’s Space University Research Initiative.
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