Satellite communications with NRAO Green Bank antennas

Abstract

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) has new opportunities to partner with organizations in addition to the NSF using the assets at the Green Bank site. The 100 m Green Bank Telescope (GBT) is the world's largest and most sensitive fully-steerable telescope, and can track at 20 deg min−1 in elevation and 40 deg min−1 in azimuth, providing the ability to track medium Earth orbit, geostationary, and deep space spacecraft. At X-band, its gain of 77 dB is unsurpassed by any fully steerable antenna. In addition to the GBT, the fully steerable, polar-mounted NRAO 140-ft telescope, with tracking rates of 20 deg min−1, and the 20 m telescope, with tracking rates of 120 deg min−1, provide a significant suite of instruments that can be deployed for spacecraft communications. Scheduled and target of opportunity observations are supported, allowing regular monitoring of and rapid response to targets.