Feasibility of a National Space Debris Monitoring Center in Brazil: Site Selection and Sensor Technology Assessment

Abstract Space debris has become a persistent operational hazard, especially in low Earth orbit (LEO), where a single fragmentation event can release thousands of trackable fragments. Countries with mature space programs rely on dedicated Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) infrastructure to catalogue these objects and support collision avoidance, whereas Brazil has no such center and depends on foreign data to protect its own satellites. This paper assesses the feasibility of establishing a national Space Debris Monitoring Center in Brazil, using the University of Brasília as the reference case. The ground-based SST capabilities of the European, US and Japanese space agencies, of selected universities and of existing Brazilian initiatives are first reviewed. A reference operator focused on objects of 10 cm and larger in LEO is then defined, and five Brazilian cities with existing space activities (Alcântara, Natal, São José dos Campos, Brasília and Cuiabá) are compared through a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis based on climate, weathering of equipment, technological infrastructure, logistics and the potential for institutional coordination and funding. Brasília offers the most balanced combination of academic infrastructure, access to government and funding bodies, logistics and favorable dry-season observing conditions. A comparison of radar, optical and laser-based sensors in terms of precision, coverage, environmental dependence, detection capability and cost indicates that a monostatic radar is the most suitable primary sensor, as its operation does not depend on weather, daylight or the urban light pollution that affects the selected site.