High Quality, High Quantity Laser Ranging Data for the 21st Century: NASA's Next Generation Satellite Laser Ranging Network
Abstract
A new generation of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) stations is in development by NASA's Space Geodesy Project. Since the 1980s, NASA's network of SLR stations has provided a large percentage of the global orbital data used to define the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). This network is reaching end-of-life. Current sub-millimeter precision ranging requirements coupled with the ever-increasing number of satellites with retro-reflectors require a new network of SLR stations with exacting performance specifications. These are the Space Geodesy Satellite Laser Ranging (SGSLR) systems.
Following a successful prototype demonstration in 2013, SGSLR is being developed to produce a robust, kilohertz laser ranging system with 24/7 operational capability and with minimal human intervention. SGSLR's data must support the aggressive ITRF goals set by the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS), which are 1 millimeter position accuracy and 0.1 millimeter per year stability on a global scale. This poster will show how the new SGSLR systems are designed to meet the GGOS performance goals, give the expected system performance, and show the initial planned deployment- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.G31B0672H
- Keywords:
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- 1239 Earth rotation variations;
- GEODESY AND GRAVITYDE: 1240 Satellite geodesy: results;
- GEODESY AND GRAVITYDE: 1241 Satellite geodesy: technical issues;
- GEODESY AND GRAVITYDE: 5450 Orbital and rotational dynamics;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS