Detection of Geo Orbital Satellites Through Shadow Imaging

   Due to the spatial resolution limits of current satellite-tracking systems, successful imaging of satellites within a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) has never knowingly been performed.  The scenario of a malfunctioning GEO satellite, prompting a long costly damage assessment, could be mitigated by a visual assessment of the satellite.  Shadow imaging proposes an inexpensive solution to this problem by capturing the diffraction pattern created from a satellite occultation.  When a satellite passes between the Earth and a specific star, a shadow of the satellite can be observed from Earth in the form of a diffraction pattern.  By utilizing an array of inexpensive mobile telescopes(14”)  equipped with rapid readout photon counting detectors, the diffraction pattern created by a satellites occultation can be captured.  The diffracted silhouette of the satellite can then be processed in an algorithm which corrects for diffraction to produce a high resolution silhouette of the satellite.