Multi-objective design of optical systems for space situational awareness

The successful implementation of Raven-class telescopes to detect, track, and characterize space objects has led to their widespread adoption. Selection of commercial-off-the-shelf components that optimizes the performance of such systems for a specific optical environment or mission is addressed. A collection of multi-disciplinary relationships and relevant assumptions necessary to create a physics-based optical systems model is presented. Several performance metrics are developed to quantify the utility of such systems. These metrics are used in a multi-objective optimization framework to produce optimal design points lying on the efficient frontier. Several trade studies are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of Raven-class telescopes. •A radiometric model is defined utilizing a consistent nomenclature.•Three analytic performance measures which define the performance of SSA assets.•A multi-objective optimization framework for comparing optical designs is outlined.•Alternative metrics and probability of SO detection are defined.