Practical Considerations of VLBI Observations to the GENESIS Mission

Abstract

AbstractWith the GENESIS proposal accepted, this study reevaluates the implementability of incorporating VLBI observations of satellites into geodetic VLBI experiments. Observations of NavIC system satellites were carried out using the 12-m AuScope radio telescopes in Hobart and Katherine. The primary focus is on scrutinizing the necessary efforts within the VLBI community aimed at effectively supporting the GENESIS satellite mission. Our investigation identifies limitations in the existing processing pipelines, particularly in the generation of station-specific procedure and local control files, as well as in satellite tracking support within the antenna control units, resulting in step-wise tracking rather than continuous tracking. Additionally, we have conducted an analysis to ascertain the effective visibility of the GENESIS satellite within both current and future VLBI networks. Our findings align with the envisioned visibility criteria of GENESIS when more VGOS-type stations are integrated into the current network. In this case, the satellite becomes visible from at least two stations with long baselines for approximately 75.6% of the time during experiments and 21.5% of the time in a year.