Investigations of the Ballistic Coefficient Estimation Methods to Improve Accuracy of Reentry Analysis

Space objects continuously increase due to the great competition between the international space agencies and the private companies to use the benefits of space. It can imply that a huge number of space objects in near future will significantly increase the collision risk in orbital space and an impact of space object’s reentry to the Earth. In term of reentry, the accuracy of reentry prediction (time and location) is necessary for governmental security unit to prepare and operate the effective plan for prevention and mitigation in life and properties. Recently, the authors develop the reentry analysis tool that is capable of monitoring and analyzing the risk of the possible reentry time and location. The reentry analysis tool requires an initial state and a ballistic coefficient (BC) depending on object’s shape, mass, attitude and material types. It is extremely challenge for the current technology to provide complete BC of all whole days. Currently, there are two BC estimation methods, which estimate BC of space object in low eccentricity orbit and each method are different cons and pros. Therefore, this paper investigates two BC estimation methods by combining with the reentry analysis tool and compares the reentry results with the actual reentry locations. Then, the further developments are described in the last section.