2026 Project Description

Protecting our space with optical observations

Supervisors

Ying-Tung Chen, Shiang-Yu Wang, Wei-Hao Wang
Find out more about supervisors on ASIAA website

Task Description and Goals

The Space Situational Awareness (SSA) program of ASIAA is to establish an optical observational network that can identify threats to our satellites such as space debris or other satellites with hostility. To achieve this, we need to monitor space and calculate the orbits of any unexpected objects found by our observations.

This summer project provides students with opportunities to conduct research in optical SSA, focusing on both satellite observations and orbit determination. The student will carry out remote optical observations of Earth-orbiting objects from office or home at night (particularly after sunset and before sunrise). The student will be involved in working with existing datasets to integrate and improve the data-processing pipeline. In parallel, the project will explore orbit fitting techniques, including re-examining fitting methods and testing the effects of previously unexplored assumptions or perturbations. A key goal of the project is to evaluate and improve orbit-fitting performance using both real observational data and controlled validation datasets (e.g., simulated data or public ephemerides). Through this process, the student will gain hands-on experience with SSA-related observations, data analysis, and orbit determination, while contributing to methodological development relevant to future optical SSA systems. We welcome students from space-science related departments in universities, or anyone interested in entering the space domain for their future career.

Required Background

A basic background in physics/space science or a related field is expected, along with some experience in Python programming. Background knowledge in astronomical observation and/or orbital mechanics is helpful, but not required; relevant concepts will be introduced during the project.