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.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	radio telescopes, SDtracker, solar system, space weather
Research Division:	Physical Sciences
Research Group:	Astronomical sciences
Research Field:	Solar physics
Objective Division:	Defence
Objective Group:	Defence
Objective Field:	Intelligence, surveillance and space
UTAS Author:	Molera Calves, G (Dr Guifre Molera Calves)
ID Code:	147936
Year Published:	2021
Deposited By:	Physics
Deposited On:	2021-11-24
Last Modified:	2022-05-25
Downloads:	0