Unique Science Opportunities for Space VLBI Systems with the SKA Telescopes
To date, two dedicated Space Very Long Baseline Interferometry (SVLBI) missions, the VLBI Space Observatory Programme (VSOP) and RadioAstron, have provided groundbreaking insights into the Universe at angular resolutions as fine as ~10 microarcseconds. The phased SKA-Mid, with its exceptional sensitivity and broad frequency coverage, will form a unique ground-based anchor for future SVLBI missions, driving major advances into previously unexplored regions of the angular resolution-sensitivity parameter space. The discovery of extreme brightness temperatures in blazars by RadioAstron demands detailed investigation with next-generation SVLBI. Such studies are crucial for understanding particle (re-)acceleration mechanisms, with direct implications for the search for high-energy neutrino sources. Combining centimeter-wavelength SVLBI with millimeter ground-based VLBI at comparable resolutions will enable detailed studies of plasma stratification and instabilities in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) jets, as well as the processes of jet formation, acceleration, collimation, and magnetic field evolution, for example through Faraday rotation mapping. The unprecedented sensitivity of the SKA-Mid will allow observations of active galactic nuclei to very high redshifts, tracing their evolution and overcoming opacity caused by the (1+z) shift of intrinsic emission frequencies. Future centimeter SVLBI experiments will also probe scattering in the interstellar medium through pulsar, maser, and AGN observations. Finally, the combination of multiple tied-array beams from the SKA telescopes and the extremely long SVLBI baselines will enable ultra-precise astrometry using the next-generation MultiView technique, allowing measurements of extragalactic parallaxes of pulsars and megamasers, proper motions of supermassive black holes, and even the astrometric detection of exoplanets.