Table 1 Characteristics of different types of satellites with SLR retroreflectors used in the analysis
From: Determination of SLR station coordinates based on LEO, LARES, LAGEOS, and Galileo satellites
Satellite | Type | Main mission objective | Launch date (mission end) | Altitude (km) | Retroreflector characteristics | POD techniques | Attitude information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LARES | Spherical geodetic | Relativistic effects, gravity field | 02.2012 | 1450 | Surface covered with 92 corner cubes | SLR | – |
LAGEOS-1 LAGEOS-2 | Spherical geodetic | ITRF, geocenter, gravity field, ERPs | 05.1976 10.1992 | 5850 5625 | Surface covered with 426 corner cubes | SLR | – |
GRACE-A GRACE-B | LEO | Gravity field, Ocean and Sea monitoring | 03.2002 (10.2017) | 450–330 | Pyramid-shaped array,4 cubes | SLR, GNSS | Quaternions, 5-s interval |
SWARM-A SWARM-B SWARM-C | LEO | Earth Magnetic field, gravity field | 11.2013 | 460 | Pyramid-shaped array,4 cubes | SLR, GNSS | Quaternions, 1-s interval |
530 | |||||||
460 | |||||||
TerraSAR-X | LEO | Remote sensing | 06.2007 | 514 | Pyramid-shaped array,4 cubes | SLR, GNSS | Quaternions, 10-s interval |
Jason-2 | LEO | Ocean surface topography | 06.2008 (10.2019) | 1336 | Hemispherical surface, 9 cubes | SLR, GNSS, DORIS | Quaternions, 30-s interval |
Sentinel-3A | LEO | Ocean and land monitoring, ocean topography | 02.2016 | 815 | Spherical surface, 7 cubes | SLR, GNSS, DORIS | Quaternions, 1-s interval |
Galileo (3 IOV 10 FOC) | GNSS | Positioning, navigation, timing | IOV 10.2011 FOC 08.2014 | 17 178– 23 222 | Arrays of 84 cubes (IOV) and 60 cubes (FOC) | SLR, GNSS | Yaw-steering |