BACKGROUND

The 1st VOLTRON Meeting was organized by the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and ~ 50 participants got together in person to present and discuss new progress in the fields of color photometry and spectroscopy for remote observation of man-made space objects, mathematical modeling, machine learning, and material radiation interaction.

In 2021, the 2nd VOLTRON Meeting was co-organized by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate. It was held in a completely virtual format due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The number of participants has increased to ~ 100, and with the gaining traction in the community, the proceedings from the 2021 Meeting were published as a Special Issue of The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences [“Emerging Techniques in Space Domain Awareness”, ISSN: 0021-9142 (Print) 2195-0571 (Online)].

In 2022, the 3rd VOLTRON meeting was hosted by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in an in-person format with virtual attendance options. About half (~ 50) of the registered participants attended virtually; in-person meeting participants enjoyed the opportunities for informal interactions during the star-gazing night at the Biosphere 2, and tours to the Mount Graham International Observatory and the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab.

The 4th VOLTRON meeting took place at The University of Texas at El Paso on February 22-24, 2023 in a hybrid format, welcoming a diverse group of 65 attendees, both in-person and virtually. The 3 keynote presentations given by Col. R. Agrawal (USSF), Dr. Ali Sayir (AFOSR), and Dr. Doug Engelhart (MAXAR) were highlighting the different strategic aspects of current and future space domain awareness efforts from government, academic and industrial sectors. Panel discussion “A Discourse on Lunar Endeavors” with Dr. Robert Landis (NASA) and Dr. Vishnu Reddy (UoA) as featured speakers, shed light on NASA perspectives in xGEO and cislunar space. At the end of the meeting, attendees were invited to take a tour of the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo, NM.

The 5th VOLTRON was hosted by the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) from February 27-29, 2024 in a hybrid format, with approximately 65 attendees. There were three keynote sessions presented by Dr. Jud Ready (CSTAR/GTRI), Dr. Stacie Williams (AFOSR), and Dr. Jaime Stearns (AFRL). Attendees had a chance to visit The Invention Studio at Georgia Tech which offers a hands-on glimpse into the university's cutting-edge makerspace. The proceedings will be published in a Special Topics Collection of The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences ["VOLTRON 2024: Laboratory and Observational Techniques for Space Situational Awareness"].