Pose and Motion Estimation for Space Debris: Fast Pose Estimation by Application of the Eigen Space Method

Abstract

The number of space debris increases by mutual collision. For this reason, the large-sized space debris with high collision probability needs to be removed as early as possible. We are studying the active removal system of space debris from low earth orbit. The satellite system captures a space debris from a suitable direction by measuring its pose and motion from the near. Then, we propose a technology which measures the pose and motion of target space debris by reduced quantity of required memory data and calculation, by using of single camera images and the eigen space method. Moreover, the result of having verified the technique to propose by the experiment which simulated the lighting environment on orbit using the scale model of the space debris is described.