Wanted: Common Formats and Protocols
Space is getting crowded! Especially in the equatorial geosynchronous belt. There's definite need for better communication between satellite operators and for all to use common formats and protocols to more accurately compute, and detect, spacecraft close approaches.
At the moment, according to Joe Chan, Senior Manager, Flight Dynamics, Intelsat, "Our most comprehensive source" for knowing the whereabouts of space objects, man-made and naturally occurring, is a computer-generated two-line element set of orbital information such as those provided by the U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command, which is also used by NASA. But there are "large uncertainties" with this kind of data.
"We don't have a warp drive [on our satellites] like on Star Trek," Chan said. "We would like to detect close approaches a few days in advance."
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