Developing onboard local space awareness for spacecraft

Vimotek is leading a new Swedish project to develop space-based Local Space Situational Awareness (LSSA) capabilities.

The project brings together Vimotek, Vinterstellar and the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) to combine onboard sensing, object tracking, orbit determination and digital-twin simulation into an integrated approach to local space awareness.

The work focuses on enabling spacecraft to detect and track nearby space objects, estimate their motion and relate onboard observations to wider space-object information.

Awareness closer to the spacecraft

Space situational awareness relies heavily on observations, processing and catalogue information provided from the ground.

LSSA-Pilot adds an onboard layer: enabling spacecraft to detect and track nearby objects locally, estimate their motion and combine those observations with catalogue information.

This is particularly relevant when another object behaves unexpectedly, when rapid local understanding is required, or when access to ground infrastructure and external data is limited.

The result is a complementary capability in which onboard awareness and ground-based SSA work together, giving operators a stronger basis for understanding activity around the spacecraft.

Combining sensing, estimation and digital twins

LSSA-Pilot brings together several technical functions within one integrated environment.

Vimotek contributes onboard observation capabilities for detecting and tracking multiple space objects, together with the digital-twin environment used to model spacecraft, sensors and orbital scenarios. Vinterstellar contributes flight-dynamics and orbit-determination expertise, while IRF contributes experience in space-object measurements and catalogue data.

The partners will integrate these functions into an onboard LSSA demonstration covering detection, tracking, orbit estimation and catalogue interaction.

Vimotek’s digital-twin environment provides the mission context for developing and validating the combined capability across different geometries, object behaviours and sensor conditions.

Extending proximity-operation capability

The project builds on Vimotek’s work in spacecraft proximity operations, onboard perception and mission simulation.

That work has focused on enabling spacecraft to perceive and characterise another object during planned operations such as rendezvous, inspection and servicing.

LSSA-Pilot extends those capabilities to another operational challenge: understanding nearby objects whose presence or behaviour is not part of the operator’s intended mission.

The project also expands Vimotek’s digital-twin environment for multi-object scenarios, sensor simulation and onboard awareness functions, connecting mission modelling with onboard assessment of the local orbital environment.

Strengthening Swedish capability in space-based SSA

LSSA-Pilot combines Swedish capability in onboard sensing, simulation, flight dynamics, orbit determination and space-object data.

The project will demonstrate an integrated local-awareness capability in a digital-twin environment, bringing detection, tracking, orbit estimation and catalogue interaction together within the same operational scenario.

For Vimotek, this strengthens the connection between onboard perception and mission-specific digital twins — supporting spacecraft operators with earlier understanding of nearby-object behaviour and a stronger basis for assessment and response preparation.

The project is also supported by letters of interest and support from two European space companies, reflecting industry interest in onboard SSA capabilities for future commercial missions.

LSSA-Pilot is supported by the Swedish National Space Agency through the Rymdtillämpningsprogrammet.