High spectral resolution multi-tone Spacecraft Doppler tracking software: Algorithms and implementations

Abstract

We present a software package for single-dish data processing of spacecraft signals observed with VLBI-equipped radio telescopes. The Spacecraft Doppler tracking (SDtracker) software allows one to obtain topocentric frequency detections with a sub-Hz precision, and reconstructed and residual phases of the carrier signal of any spacecraft or landing vehicle at any location in the Solar System. These data products are estimated using the ground-based telescope's highly stable oscillator as a reference, without requiring an a priori model of the spacecraft dynamics nor the downlink transmission carrier frequency. The software has been extensively validated in multiple observing campaigns of various deep space missions and is compatible with the raw sample data acquired by any standard VLBI radio telescope worldwide. In this paper, we report the numerical methodology of SDtracker, the technical operations for deployment and usage, and a summary of use cases and scientific results produced since its initial release.

The paper has been accepted for publication in PASA

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) of the JUICE mission
• Gravitational redshift test of EEP with RA from near Earth to the distance of the Moon
• Contribution of PRIDE VLBI products to the joint JUICE-Europa Clipper moons' ephemerides solution
• A monitoring campaign (2013-2020) of ESA's Mars Express to study interplanetary plasma scintillation
• Detecting the oscillation and propagation of the nascent dynamic solar wind structure at 2.6 solar radii using VLBI radio telescopes
• Development of Radar and Optical Tracking of Near-Earth Asteroids at the University of Tasmania