First time posting to this sub.
I work for an aerospace company that's developed satellites for on-orbit inspection, SSA, and debris removal to enhance space sustainability.
Our first satellite (DROID.001) recently deorbited and I wanted to share some of the early images that the satellite captured.
Image 1: This is a pre-processed frame. Using carefully selected parameters and functions, we increase the signal-to-noise ratio to enhance RSO features and suppress background noise.
Image 2: Attention coefficients from one of our RSO Characterization models are overlaid as a heat map. Brighter pixels indicate a higher probability that the region contains an RSO. These models are tuned specifically to our imagers and can detect extremely faint structures, including the barely visible upper and lower extensions of the satellite, possibly solar panels at a unique angle.
Image 3: Final identification confirms the object as COSMOS 1842, NORAD ID # 17911, alongside a reference image of the satellite for validation.
Lastly, and not part of the above image series: here's the first official non-Earth image of the moon we snapped almost 2 years ago, April 2024..
Getting it up there was a big milestone, the deorbiting feels a little bittersweet, but expected. Thanks for letting me share it with ya'll.
by razmig