Energy budget and methods for determining coordinates for a radiomonitoring system based on a small spacecraft

Abstract

The existing ground-based radio monitoring systems do not allow performing the functions and tasks of radio spectrum monitoring in a quality manner. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of the radio spectrum monitoring systems for countries with a large territory, such as the Republic of Kazakhstan, it is proposed to use low-orbit small spacecrafts as radio monitoring stations. The analysis of the energy budget of radio lines on the basis of existing radio electronic means on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, carried out in this work, showed the possibility of using low-orbit small spacecrafts for performing the functions and tasks of radio monitoring. The paper proposes and develops a method for determining the coordinates of radio emission sources based on the goniometric method using scanning antennas on board of one spacecraft. The ranges of the antenna scanning angles are substantiated, and the estimates of the coordinates determination errors are made. Algorithms have been developed and computer programs have been compiled to determine the coordinates of the radio emission sources, which will make it possible to use this method at the initial stages of developing a radio spectrum monitoring system based on one small spacecraft.