Arase Satellite Observations of Plasma Waves Generated by Space Objects in Low Earth Orbit

Space debris is a rapidly growing hazard for spacebased assets, with even millimeter sized debris capable of inflicting serious or mission-ending damage.While debris larger than ~10 cm can be tracked with radar, and collision avoidance maneuvers taken as precaution, no such recourse is yet available against the smaller debris .To answer this threat, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) Space Debris Identification and Tracking (SINTRA) program aims to develop a next-generation capability to detect, track, and characterize small space debris (<10 cm).In this paper, we present work done as a part of the SINTRA effort in which plasma waves, potentially generated by resident space objects (RSOs) are detected using the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA's) Arase satellite.The effort seeks to verify that plasma waves observed in the vicinity of Arase are generated by RSOs in close proximity.This work also investigates the potential to determine properties of the RSO by evaluating properties of the plasma waves observes by Arase.The work presented covers the first step in this process including detecting plasma waves and verifying statistically significant confidence of their association with RSOs.