Deep STARE Technical Advancements and Status

The Deep-space Surveillance Technology Advancement & Replacement for Ebsicons (Deep STARE) program is a sustainment effort designed to replace aging Ebsicon analog video cameras and mount control subsystems in the Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) system. The program includes design and development of highly sensitive digital Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) arrays, camera electronics, and mount control hardware as well as software upgrades necessary to support the modification. The Deep STARE implementation uses the state-of-the-art CCD, combined with new algorithms and an enhanced image processing capability, to significantly boost the performance of the GEODSS system and improve the space situational awareness mission. This paper provides a brief background on the overall architecture of the Deep STARE upgrade, a description of the key system components, and the new system-level capabilities that will be provided to GEODSS. We will present and discuss the design challenges of the upgrade and the Deep STARE technical performance measurements related to Space Situational Awareness (SSA). We will also present measured data from the Deep STARE integration test bed and compare the data to current GEODSS operational capabilities. The resulting performance gains and expected contribution to the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) is summarized.