Description

The ASI SDLR project focuses on the development of an advanced Space Debris Laser Ranging station equipped with state-of-the-art adaptive optics technology. The facility will be installed at the Italian Space Agency’s Space Geodesy Center “Giuseppe Colombo” in Matera and will operate with a 1-meter class telescope dedicated to high-precision tracking and characterization of space debris.

The ranging system is based on a 1064nm pulsed laser running at up to 200Hz, allowing accurate measurement of the space debris distance, and thus accurate orbit reconstruction. The time-of-flight sensing system relies on an advanced optical sensor based on an array of Near-Infrared Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) supplied by Micro Photon Devices XXXlink.

At the core of the system is Microgate’s 0.31-meter adaptive secondary mirror, equipped with 84 actuators for real-time wavefront correction. To further improve the adaptive optics correction, the observatory will employ a Laser Guide Star (LGS) operating at 589 nm, generated within the mesospheric sodium layer to compensate for atmospheric turbulence during debris observation and laser ranging activities.

The project combines adaptive optics, laser technologies, and precision control systems to support next-generation space surveillance and tracking capabilities.