The FAKERAT Software in the International Interferometric Project "RadioAstron" with Very Long Space-Ground Baselines

TL;DR

The paper describes the FAKERAT software designed for planning space-VLBI observations in the RadioAstron project, and reports initial results from its use during the first two years after launch.

Contribution

It introduces the FAKERAT software for space-VLBI observation planning and presents initial observational results from its application.

Findings

Successful planning of space-VLBI observations using FAKERAT

First two years of space-ground interferometry data collected

Validation of FAKERAT's effectiveness in real mission scenarios

Abstract

We present the description of the FAKERAT software developed for planning Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations from space (space-VLBI). The results of the planned observations using the FAKERAT package during the first two years after launch of the space radio telescopy (SRT) in the space-ground interferometer modes are reported.