Abstract: Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) is one of the important approaches of navigation and positioning of deep space probes. The differential one-way ranging (DOR) beacons and delta differential one-way ranging (Delta-DOR) measurement systems, which accurately determine the angular distance of the deep-space detector with respect to the extraterrestrial radio source, are often used in VLBI observations of deep space probes. Phase dispersion is one of the main sources of error that reduce the accuracy of measurement. A new DOR beacon (PN-DOR) was developed based on the pseudorandom noise modulation method and the design and implementation of the beacon were carried out. Moreover, the optimization methods of the Gold code bandwidth, polynomials, the shaping filters coefficients and the DOR signal modulation index were analyzed in the time and frequency domain. The PN-DOR beacon can effectively reduce the delay error induced by phase dispersion and improve the Delta-DOR measurement accuracy, thus meeting the needs of high-precision navigation and positioning of future deep-space probe missions of China.

Key words: very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), delta differential oneway ranging (Delta-DOR), DOR beacon, phase dispersion, deep space navigation