Molniya satellite tracking with the Canadian Automated Small Telescope for Orbital Research (CASTOR) facility: Optimal tracking scheduling and tracking capability

The Canadian Automated Small Telescope for Orbital Research (CASTOR K) 1 is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) optical tracking facility run by the Space Surveillance Research and Analysis Laboratory (SSRAL) at the Royal Military College (RMC) of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. CASTOR K is a concept demonstrator and one of three proposed automated optical tracking facilities to be built and remotely controlled for the Directorate of Space Development's (DSpaceD) Joint Space Project (JSP). CASTOR K is currently in the process of becoming an accredited sensor of the Space Surveillance Network (SSN).; Molniya satellites are Russian satellites first launched in 1965 to provide communication services. A Molniya orbit is inclined at 63 degrees with a perigee height as low as 400 km and an apogee height as high as 40,000 km. The Molniya orbit is one of the most difficult orbits to model due to the wide range of perturbing forces which it experiences due to its highly eccentric (e > 0.5), high altitude (altitude > 6000 km) orbit.; Analyses were performed to determine CASTOR K's Molniya satellite tracking capability and to develop optimal Molniya tracking guidelines based on several criteria including: historical weather patterns, observation error levels, and ephemeris prediction accuracy resulting from various tracking schedules. (Abstract shortened by UMI.); 1K stands for Kingston.