First observational campaign of space debris from O AG observatory

Global Earth observation for weather forecast and for global environmental monitoring is mainly conducted from space based sensors. The activity of the satellites carrying those instruments is under the risk of impacts from space debris. Protections from hypervelocity impacts can be devised only from debris that are smaller than say 1 cm. For larger sizes the only way to avoid destruction of the spacecraft is to monitor continuously the space around Earth. The observations are conducted from ground based optical observatories and radar stations. By knowing position and orbital parameters of a space debris it is possible to reduce the impact probability by manoeuvring the satellite in advance from the debris predicted orbit. More and more observatories are gaining interest in this area and the "Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory of Gorga" decided recently to start this new activity. An observational campaign is planned for two telescopes available at the observatory. The paper will report the results of the observations.