RadioAstron as a target and as an instrument: Enhancing the Space VLBI mission's scientific output

Abstract

The accuracy of orbit determination has a strong impact on the scientific output of the Space VLBI mission RadioAstron. The aim of this work is to improve the RadioAstron orbit reconstruction by means of sophisticated dynamical modelling of its motion in combination with multi-station Doppler tracking of the RadioAstron spacecraft. The improved orbital solution is demonstrated using Doppler measurements of the RadioAstron downlink signal and by correlating VLBI observations made by RadioAstron with ground-based telescopes using the enhanced orbit determination data. Orbit determination accuracy has been significantly improved from ~ 600 m in 3D position and ~ 2 cm/s in 3D velocity to several tens of metres and mm/s, respectively.

arXiv comment8 pages, 8 figures. Astronomy and Astrophysics, accepted

References in corpus (3)

• RadioAstron -- a Telescope with a Size of 300 000 km: Main Parameters and First Observational Results
• Spacecraft VLBI and Doppler tracking: algorithms and implementation
• Observations and analysis of phase scintillation of spacecraft signal on the interplanetary plasma

Cited by in corpus (11)

• The SFXC software correlator for Very Long Baseline Interferometry: Algorithms and Implementation
• Simulations of imaging the event horizon of Sagittarius A* from space
• Software correlator for Radioastron mission
• Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) technique: A test case of the Mars Express Phobos fly-by
• RadioAstron space VLBI imaging of polarized radio emission in the high-redshift quasar 0642+449 at 1.6 GHz
• Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) of the JUICE mission
• Multiband RadioAstron space VLBI imaging of the jet in quasar S5 0836+710
• RadioAstron orbit determination and evaluation of its results using correlation of space-VLBI observations
• System Design for the Event Horizon Imaging Experiment Using the PECMEO Concept
• High spectral resolution multi-tone Spacecraft Doppler tracking software: Algorithms and implementations
• Generalization of the Van Cittert--Zernike theorem: observers moving with respect to sources