Geostationary orbital object imaging based on spaceborne inverse synthetic aperture ladar

Without the turbulence of atmosphere, it is possible to image geostationary orbital objects via spaceborne inverse synthetic aperture ladar (ISAL). The orbital altitude of spaceborne ISAL for geostationary orbital objects imaging was preliminary designed, the influence of orbital altitude on revisiting period, imaging resolution and coherent accumulation time was analyzed in direct orbit and retrograde orbit, respectively. The minimum pulse repetition frequency (PRF) for unambiguous azimuth imaging was presented, and relations between imaging range, transmit-receive aperture diameter and SNR were analyzed. The results show that it is initial feasible to image geostationary orbital objects using spaceborne ISAL in retrograde orbit.