#CapellaVLBI
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saschatrippe.bsky.social
Nice talk by my "grandstudent" Taeho Kang (UNIST) on the expected imaging capabilities of our #CapellaVLBI 4-station space VLBI network.

#RadioAstronomy #EAVN25
🧪🔭📡🛰️🚀
Title slide: "Optimizing and evaluating space-mm-VLBI" Slide on the Capella orbit design
November 17, 2025 at 8:42 AM
saschatrippe.bsky.social
Talking space-VLBI – specifically, our #CapellaVLBI mission proposal – in our annual department workshop. Fun as always!

🧪🔭🛰️🚀
Presentation slide showing the proposed Capella Program (Capella science mission plus Mimosa pathfinder mission) structure.
August 22, 2025 at 2:03 AM
saschatrippe.bsky.social
And yes, we have a specific application in mind: space-VLBI.

🧪🔭☄️🛰️🧑‍🚀 #CapellaVLBI
Capella: A Space-only High-frequency Radio VLBI Network Formed by a Constellation of Small Satellites
Very long baseline radio interferometry (VLBI) with ground-based observatories is limited by the size of Earth, the geographic distribution of antennas, and the transparency of the atmosphere. In this...
arxiv.org
May 22, 2025 at 12:33 PM
saschatrippe.bsky.social
Had a good talk about "Capella". Hooray for space-VLBI!

#CapellaVLBI
#Instrumentation
#RadioAstronomy
🧪🔭🛰️🚀📡🧑‍🚀
Me talking about Capella science cases. Summary: * Various science cases require as scale resolution, good image quality, and high observing frequencies: Black hole shadows, AGN jets, black hole binaries, gas flows around black holes, ... * CAPELLA is a space-only VLBI network composed of 4 small satellites on LEOs observing at 690 GHz, reaching an angular resolution of ~ 7 μas, "perfect" uv plane coverage, and 10 sensitivity ~3 my (1 GHz, 250,000 sec) * Each satellite needs to carry the components of a complete VLBI station; using specs of existing systems, the payload will have a mass of ~190 kg and will need ~460 W of power * All required technologies already exist, some off-the-shelf; realizing CAPELLA will require relatively limited effort. However, components need to be purpose-built, specs should be improved → technology R&D * CAPELLA will be complementary to ground-based arrays (EHT, ALMA, ...) and provides opportunities for international collaboration (NASA, ESA, ...) Paper: ** arXiv:2304.06482 **
February 5, 2025 at 9:52 AM
saschatrippe.bsky.social
Happening in Seoul right now: the KAS Space Telescope Workshop, discussing potential Korean astronomy space missions – including our space-VLBI mission "Capella".

arxiv.org/abs/2304.06482

#CapellaVLBI
#Instrumentation
🧪🔭🛰️🚀📡🧑‍🚀
Presentation slide showing three of the mission proposals under discussion, including "Capella".
February 5, 2025 at 6:31 AM
saschatrippe.bsky.social
For context, here again the mission whitepaper.

#CapellaVLBI
#RadioAstronomy
#Extragalactic
🔭🧪📡🚀🛰️

arxiv.org/abs/2304.06482
Capella: A Space-only High-frequency Radio VLBI Network Formed by a Constellation of Small Satellites
Very long baseline radio interferometry (VLBI) with ground-based observatories is limited by the size of Earth, the geographic distribution of antennas, and the transparency of the atmosphere. In this...
arxiv.org
January 7, 2025 at 3:15 AM
saschatrippe.bsky.social
Got interviewed about our space-VLBI mission concept, Project Capella. Thanks to @terezapultarova.bsky.social and the @space.com team, it was a pleasure!

#CapellaVLBI
#RadioAstronomy
#Extragalactic
🔭🧪📡 🚀🛰️
Small satellite constellation could reveal black holes like never before
"Currently, features under a certain size simply cannot be imaged."
www.space.com
January 6, 2025 at 5:14 PM
saschatrippe.bsky.social
Had the opportunity to talk #CapellaVLBI (arXiv:2304.06482) at the 25th East Asia Submillimeter-wave Receiver Technology Workshop. Great meeting, thanks for having me!

#RadioAstronomy 📡🔭🧪🚀
Concept sketch of space-VLBI: 2 space telescopes in low Earth orbits observe the center of a galaxy and transmit the data to a ground station, where an image of a black hole shadow is constructed.
December 12, 2024 at 1:27 PM
saschatrippe.bsky.social
Not sure if astronomers have fully grasped how many opportunities "new space" offers: cheaper missions, fleets of standardized platforms, multi-Gbps laser comms.

My favorite, of course, remains space VLBI.

#CapellaVLBI 🔭🧪🚀📡
10 Tech Trends That Will Impact the Satellite Industry in 2025 | December 2024
Via Satellite asked industry leaders to weigh in on the 10 trends that they are watching most closely in 2025.
interactive.satellitetoday.com
December 11, 2024 at 3:46 AM
saschatrippe.bsky.social
One of the many advantages of working in Korea are the meeting locations. This was the site of the IASS 2024 space instrumentation workshop in Gyeongju. #CapellaVLBI
Myself standing in front of a nine-level reconstructed Korean temple tower (Gyeongju Hwangnyongwon), on a beautiful and hot summer day in July 2024.
November 23, 2024 at 10:14 AM
saschatrippe.bsky.social
Interested in astronomy from space? We work on Project Capella, a space-only VLBI network observing at 690 GHz and composed of four small (<500 kg) satellites on low Earth orbits, giving ~7 μas resolution.

Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2304.06482

#CapellaVLBI 🛰️🛰️🛰️🛰️
#RadioAstronomy
#Extragalactic
Discussion of Capella at KARI. Model of a possible segmented primary mirror.
November 21, 2024 at 9:59 AM