Making a decision on the most dangerous man-made object by a spacecraft for monitoring near-Earth space
Keywords:
space debris, specialized spacecraft, the most dangerous space object, partial features, combined feature, decision ruleAbstract
Introduction: the number of man-made objects in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere is constantly growing and, as a result, the probability of collision with them of spacecraft used for their intended purpose is growing. To prevent collisions, these objects are continuously monitored using ground-based means. However, their use does not prevent collisions with space debris. It is planned to use specialized spacecraft to make decisions about the most dangerous man-made object among the many observed. Purpose: formation of a decision rule for choosing the most dangerous object from a set of observables, providing the maximum a posteriori probability. Results: a method is proposed for selecting the most dangerous man-made object by a specialized spacecraft from the set of partial inhomogeneous features observed from the measurement results. The composition and number of measurements of particular features for various observed objects may differ. The proposed decision rule is based on the complex use of not only the actual values of particular features of the observed objects, obtained from the measurement results, but also information about the accuracy characteristics of the involved onboard measuring instruments. This approach ensures the choice of the most dangerous object according to the criterion of maximum a posteriori probability. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated by an example. Practical relevance: the possibility of making a decision on various sets and quantities of measurements of particular features of the observed objects, as well as the simplicity of the decision rule, make it possible to quickly determine the most dangerous man-made object on board a specialized spacecraft for monitoring near-Earth space.