NASA's Space Geodesy Project

NASA's Space Geodesy Project (SGP) recently completed a prototype core site as the basis for a next generation Space Geodetic Network that is part of NASA's contribution to the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS). This system is designed to produce the higher quality data required to establish and maintain the Terrestrial Reference Frame and provide information essential for fully realizing the measurement potential of the current and future generation of Earth Observing spacecraft. The prototype core site is at NASA's Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory at Goddard Space Flight Center and includes co-located, state of-the-art, systems from all four space geodetic observing techniques: Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), and Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS). A system for monitoring of the "ties" between these four systems is an integral part of the core site development concept and this specific prototype. When fully implemented, this upgraded global network will benefit in addition to the ITRF, all other network products (e.g. Precision Orbit Determination, local & regional deformation, astrometry, etc.), which will also be improved by at least an order of magnitude, with concomitant benefits to the supported and tracked missions, science projects, and engineering applications. We present the results of the prototype site demonstration and describe the NASA plans for implementing its next generation network.