Next-Gen Space-Based Surveillance: Blockchain for Trusted and Efficient Debris Tracking

Abstract

The increasing congestion of Earth's orbit due to growing satellite deployments and space debris poses a significant challenge to sustainable space operations. Traditional space surveillance systems rely on centralized architectures, which introduce single points of failure and scalability constraints. This paper proposes a blockchain-based solution where satellites function as nodes with distinct roles to validate and securely store debris-tracking data. Simulation results indicate that optimal network performance is achieved with approximately 30 nodes, balancing throughput and response time, representing an approximately 9x improvement over traditional consensus mechanisms.