Overview and initial results of the very long baseline interferometry space observatory programme

High angular resolution images of extragalactic radio sources are being made with the Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communications and Astronomy (HALCA) satellite and ground-based radio telescopes as part of the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Space Observatory Programme (VSOP). VSOP observations at 1.6 and 5 gigahertz of the milli-arc-second-scale structure of radio quasars enable the quasar core size and the corresponding brightness temperature to be determined, and they enable the motions of jet components that are close to the core to be studied. Here, VSOP images of the gamma-ray source 1156+295, the quasar 1548+056, the ultraluminous quasar 0014+813, and the superluminal quasar 0212+735 are presented and discussed.