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Space-based surveillance of Resident Space Objects with the CHEOPS space telescope
Authors: Gonçalves, L.F.P.; Billot, N.; Hellmich, S.; Barbosa, D.; Coelho, B.; Correia, A.C.M.; Fortier, A.; Broeg, C.; Bekkelien, A.; Ehrenreich, D.; Merin, B.; Günther, M.; Heitzmann, A.; Benz, W.
Ref.: Acta Astronaut. 239, 61-75 (2026)
Abstract: The European Space Agency CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) is a space telescope in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), dedicated to studying exoplanets that orbit bright, nearby stars. A small yet increasing fraction of the images acquired by CHEOPS show linear streaks caused by resident space objects that cross the instrument´s Field of View (FoV). Although these images are excluded from scientific analysis, they are invaluable for ancillary space surveillance purposes and do represent a leap forward on the in-situ understanding of the LEO orbital field. A streak detection and analysis algorithm has been developed to detect space object observations in the CHEOPS data and to measure the brightness of the detected objects. Applying the detection algorithm on 1.5 million images, acquired between 2020-03-09 to 2022-10-26 resulted in a total number of 4832 detected streaks. A completeness analysis to evaluate sensitivity and reliability of the algorithm indicates a detection reliability of about 90% for streaks close to the noise level. 4300 of the detected streaks could be identified with known satellites in the present public catalogue and 700 correspond to unidentified objects. The brightness analysis observations that were identified with known objects indicate an average albedo of 0.15.
