Numerical simulations of MROI imaging of GEO satellites

All of the design work and major construction has been completed for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory interferometer (MROI). The majority of the subsystems are currently (2012) being assembled. When completed, the array will consist of 10 fully transportable 1.4 m telescopes. These will support multiple array configurations, with baselines from 7.8 m to 346 m to give sub-milliarcsecond angular resolution. We provide an assessment of the potential imaging capability of the MRO interferometer with regard to geosynchronous targets. 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 2-meter 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.