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Analysis of institutional authors

Porras-Hermoso, AngelAuthor

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June 30, 2026
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Space Situational Awareness in Very Low Earth Orbit for Re-Entry Object Monitoring

Publicated to: AEROSPACE. 13 (7): 607- - 2026-06-30, DOI: 10.3390/aerospace13070607

Authors:

Huang, Ruth; Lee, Regina S K; Veltri, Marianna; Suthakar, Vithurshan; Porras-Hermoso, Angel
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Affiliations

Univ Politecn Madrid, ETS Aeronaut Engn, P Juan 23,11, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
York Univ, Dept Earth & Space Sci, 4700 Keele St, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada - Author

Abstract

As the number of objects in orbit increases every year, the number of objects re-entering Earth's atmosphere grows as well. Re-entry path prediction is tricky, as atmospheric modeling lacks accuracy and requires constant monitoring of the object during re-entry. Ground-based sensors face limitations due to the field of view and weather. This paper explores the novel idea of using star trackers in very low Earth orbit to image Resident Space Objects (RSOs) that are on re-entry path and provides a comparison of different star trackers to determine the most effective parameters. A simulation with 1000 Resident Space Objects on re-entry path was performed and detectability analysis was run using AURICAM, SAGITTA, PCO, IDS, and FAI sensors placed in orbit between 200 and 600 km in altitude. The results show that all star trackers at any altitude were capable of detecting at least three RSOs on re-entry path and making at least 47 detections during the simulation period. In particular, instruments with larger aperture diameters such as SAGITTA and FAI and quantum efficiency performed better, making up to 134 detections and detecting up to 10 unique RSOs. They also detected a higher average signal-to-noise ratio. Detectability of RSOs is higher when the sensor is placed closer to the objects, with the most effective performance recorded at 300-400 km altitude. Future work should include practical testing of this technique.
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Keywords

Detection-by-trackingEarth atmosphereEarth orbitsLow earth orbitObject detectionObject detection and trackingObject trackingOrbitsRe-entry predictionReentryResident space object detection and trackingSignal detectionSignal to noise ratioSpace applicationsSpace objectsSpace situational awarenessSpace situational awareness (ssa)Star trackersStarsVery low earth orbit

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal AEROSPACE due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2026, it was in position 17/59, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Engineering, Aerospace. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q2 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Aerospace Engineering.

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-11-12:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 1 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

    It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

    • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
    • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/97623/
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    Leadership analysis of institutional authors

    This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Canada.

    There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (PORRAS HERMOSO, ANGEL LUIS).

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    Awards linked to the item

    This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant (grant number: RGPIN-2025-06284) and the Canadian Space Agency Flights and Fieldwork for the Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST) program (grant number: 23FAYORA06) in collaboration with Magellan Aerospace and Defence Research and Development Canada (grant number: DGDND-2025-06284).
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