Asteroids are discovered by small,
dedicated teams of astronomers using optical telescopes that repeatedly scan the sky looking for star - like objects, which change location in the sky slightly over the course of an hour or so.
The IAA award citation notes that the VSOP
team «realized the long - held dream
of radio
astronomers to extend those baselines into space, by observing celestial radio sources with the HALCA satellite, supported by a
dedicated network
of tracking stations, and arrays
of ground radio telescopes from around the world.»