METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING ONE OR MORE TARGETS IN SPACE BASED ON IMAGES TAKEN FROM A SPACECRAFT SUCH AS A VISUAL INSPECTION SATELLITE, AND SATELLITE EQUIPPED WITH SUCH A SYSTEM

• Main Authors: CANTEGREIL, Julien, OLLIVIER, Thierry
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 31.05.2023
• Subjects: AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; CALCULATING; COMPUTING; COSMONAUTICS; COUNTING; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL; MEASURING; MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; NAVIGATION; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY; PHYSICS; SURVEYING; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR

Disclosed is a method and system for detecting a target in space, based on images taken from a spacecraft such as a visual inspection satellite. The invention relates to a method for remotely detecting one or more targets (1) in space in low orbit around the Earth based on an imager installed on-board a spacecraft (2) that is in a sun-synchronous orbit and having to approach one or more targets located in a near orbital plane, comprising: acquiring sequentially taken images of a region of space potentially containing the one or more targets; realigning the images thus acquired by means of reference points represented by stars; detecting, within the sequentially taken and realigned images, groups of virtually stationary pixels each representing a target; measuring a time-lapse necessary for these groups of pixels thus detected to be shifted by a predetermined number of pixels; and processing this time measurement in order to deliver information on the position of the one or more targets (1) relative to the imager.