The MROI's capabilities for imaging geosynchronous satellites

Interferometry provides the only practicable way to image meter-scale structure in geosynchronous satellites. This capability represents a unique commercial opportunity for astronomical interferometry, but to date no interferometer has been able to make an image of such a satellite. We discuss the challenges of imaging these objects and present results of sensitivity calculations and imaging simulations which show that the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer is likely to be well-suited to this application. Our preliminary results suggest that a significant proportion of GEO targets may be accessible and that it may be possible to routinely extract key satellite diagnostics with an imaging capability that would be able to distinguish, for example, 70 cm features on a 5-meter satellite bus and payload, 30 cm features on a 2meter satellite bus or similarly sized structure, as well as precise quantitative information on much larger structures such as 10 m long solar panels. Optimised observation and data reduction strategies are likely to allow these limits to be improved in due course.