Dr. Raktim Bhattacharya, associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and director of the Laboratory for Uncertainty Quantification at Texas A&M University, has received a $670,000 grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to develop new algorithms for space situational awareness. The grant covers a three-year time period. Space situational awareness (SSA) refers to the ability to view, understand and predict the physical location of natural and manmade objects in orbit around the Earth, with the objective of avoiding collisions. As space becomes more congested, maintaining a timely and accurate picture of space activities becomes both more important and difficult.
In this research, titled Cloud Computing Based Robust Space Situational Awareness, Bhattacharya, along with Co-PI Dr. Bani Mallick, distinguished professor from the Department of Statistics of Texas A&M, will develop new algorithms for accurate uncertainty propagation in nonlinear manifolds, and nonlinear non-Gaussian state estimation of satellite characteristics for more accurate prediction of possible collisions. The research will incorporate real-time streaming data from geographically-dispersed satellite observatories, and national astrodyamic databases such as JGM-2, NEOS, USNO, IERS, NOAA, JPL, Goddard Flight Center, and NIMA, which provides real-time updates on various physical parameters necessary to model the astrodynamics forces acting on space objects. This research will also address challenges in real-time computing with large-scale geographically distributed data sets.