Detection and localization of L-band satellites using an antenna array

Argus is an experimental L-band radio telescope, consisting of a large number of low-gain antennas networked together to facilitate detection and localization of astronomical transients over the entire sky instantaneously. In this paper, we report an experiment in which we used Argus to observe man-made satellites, namely the 1691 MHz WEFAX signal from the GOES-12 satellite and the combined 1575.42 MHz signal from the US GPS constellation. This is a useful interim step to astronomical observations because WEFAX and GPS are strong relative to astronomical sources, yet weak enough to provide a meaningful test of the ability to operate with high sensitivity in field conditions.