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Overview

Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) and Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) use short-pulse lasers and state-of-the-art optical receivers and timing electronics to measure the two-way time of flight (and hence distance) from ground stations to retroreflector arrays on Earth orbiting satellites and the Moon. Scientific products derived using SLR and LLR data include precise geocentric positions and motions of ground stations, satellite orbits, components of Earth’s gravity field and their temporal variations, Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP), precise lunar ephemerides and information about the internal structure of the Moon. Laser ranging systems are already measuring the one-way distance to remote optical receivers in space and can perform very accurate time transfer between sites far apart. Laser ranging activities are organized under the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) which provides global satellite and lunar laser ranging data and their derived data products to support research in geodesy, geophysics, Lunar science, and fundamental constants. This includes data products that are fundamental to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), which is established and maintained by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS). The ILRS develops the necessary global standards/specifications for laser ranging activities and encourages international adherence to its conventions.

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Highlights

Planning for the 2019 ILRS Technical Workshop has begunRelease Date: 02/12/2019 Planning for the 2019 ILRS Technical Workshop has begun! We ask that you mark your calendars and reserve the date for the next gathering of the ILRS community:

Dates: October 21-25, 2019
Location: Stuttgart, Germany

The workshop will be sponsored by the DLR in Stuttgart, Germany. The program committee is actively working on the defining the theme and session topics for the workshop while the local organizers are planning the workshop logistics. The first circular for the workshop will be issued in the very near future.

We hope you will consider attending the workshop!

ILRS Governing Board for the 2019-2020 termRelease Date: 02/11/2019 The ILRS Governing Board is pleased to announce that the election of the two Board-appointed members to the ILRS Governing Board has been completed. We were fortunate to have had many qualified candidates participate in the election process. The members of the ILRS Governing Board have elected Ulli Schreiber (Technische Universität München) and Krzysztof Sośnica (Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences) to these two positions.

Thus, the 18 members of the ILRS Governing Board for the 2019-2020 term are:

Director of the Central Bureau:
Secretary of the Central Bureau:
Representative of IAG Commission 1:
IERS Representative:
EUROLAS Network Representatives:
NASA Network Representatives:
WPLTN Representatives:

Analysis Representatives:
LLR Representative:
Data Center Representative:
At-Large Representatives:

Board Appointed Representatives:

Mike Pearlman (appointed)

Carey Noll (appointed)

Urs Hugentobler (appointed)
Daniela Thaller (appointed)
Pippo Bianco, Georg Kirchner
Jan McGarry, Stephen Merkowitz
James Bennett, Zhang Zhongping
Cinzia Luceri, Erricos Pavlis
Jean-Marie Torre
Christian Schwatke

Toshi Otsubo (Chair), Matt Wilkinson
Ulli Schreiber, Krzysztof Sośnica

Once again, congratulations to the newly-elected representatives and thank you to all the excellent candidates who participated in the ILRS Governing Board elections.

New guidelines for missions seeking ILRS support for SLR trackingRelease Date: 02/04/2019 The ILRS Missions Standing Committee (MSC) and Governing Board have recently approved new guidelines for missions seeking ILRS support for SLR tracking. Mission contacts should consult the "Guidelines for Submitting an ILRS New Mission Support Request" documentation prior to submitting a completed ILRS Missions Support Request to the ILRS Central Bureau.

Proceedings website for the 21st International Workshop on Laser Ranging now availableRelease Date: 11/27/2018 The proceedings website for the 21st International Workshop on Laser Ranging, held November 05-09 in Canberra Australia is now available with links to presentations, posters, and papers. Summary information is also available at the website.

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Recent News

Commercial power to TLRS-4 at Haleakala restored - A winter storm damaged commercial power transmission lines to the observatories on Haleakala, Hawaii, USA on February 10, 2019. Commercial power to TLRS-4 at Haleakala has been restored.

Etalon-1 and -2 tracking campaign - SLR has the opportunity to play a more significant role on the determination of Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP), an important element in the reference frame and parameters for many of our customers. With our improving ability to track GNSS satellites, we are conducting a 3-month Etalon campaign, from February 15 through May 15, 2019. Weekly reports are now available.

TLRS-4 at Haleakala without power - A winter storm damaged commercial power transmission lines to the observatories on Haleakala, Hawaii, USA. Since February 10, TLRS-4 has been without power. The local electric power company estimates repair to take a minimum of 4 weeks and as long as 8 weeks. The team is exploring ways to power the site with a backup generator or by connecting to a nearby observatory that has backup power.

New Site Log Version and Procedure - As you may be aware, there is a new version of the ILRS site log and a new procedure for submitting it. The procedure is documented on the ILRS web site at https://ilrs.cddis.eosdis.nasa.gov/network/site_procedures/site_logs.html. It involves creating or updating the site log via an on-line editor based at EDC. Submissions of text versions of the site log will no longer be accepted. The version 1 site logs were converted automatically to version 2, but many have errors that need to be corrected. If you have not done so yet, please follow the procedures on the web site and update your site log to correct errors and add information in the new fields by May 10 of this year. There is also a similar on-line editor at EDC to create or update your station change history log. Please see the instruction at https://ilrs.cddis.eosdis.nasa.gov/network/site_procedures/configuration_files.html.

Planning for the 2019 ILRS Technical Workshop has begun - We ask that you mark your calendars and reserve the date for the next gathering of the ILRS community:

Dates: October 21-25, 2019
Location: Stuttgart, Germany

The workshop will be sponsored by the DLR in Stuttgart, Germany. The program committee is actively working on the defining the theme and session topics for the workshop while the local organizers are planning the workshop logistics. The first circular for the workshop will be issued in the very near future.

We hope you will consider attending the workshop!

Lunar Laser Ranging featured on the "Today" show - NBC Sunday Today recently reported on lunar laser ranging activities at the APOLLO system in Sunspot NM.

The Passing of Richard Biancale - It is with profound sadness that we must announce to you the passing our colleague, Dr. Richard Biancale, geodesist, recently retired from the CNES in September 2018, and most recently working at the GFZ (Oberpfaffenhofen) with Dr. Frank Flechtner on GRACE Follow-On. We were informed of his death on Monday February 4, 2019 from a heart attack while skiing in the Alps.

Richard had a long and distinguished career in Space Geodesy. He received his Ph.D. in 1978 from the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris (France) while working under Professor Cristoph Reigber at the Technical University of Munich (Germany). He worked as a research scientist at the University of São Paulo, at the DGFI (Deutsches Geodãtisches Forschungsinstitut) in Munich (Germany), and at CERGA (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches en Géodynamique et Astronométrie) Grasse (France), before joining the French Space Agency, the CNES (Toulouse, France) in 1982 as a scientific engineer.

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Meetings

3rd IVS Training School on VLBI for Geodesy and Astrometry, Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), Spain, March 14-16, 2019

24th Working Meeting of the European VLBI Group for Geodesy and Astrometry (EVGA), March 17-19, 2019, Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), Spain

Munich Satellite Navigation Summit 2019, Munich, Germany, March 25-27, 2019

Publications

2009/2010 ILRS Report

Proceedings from the 19th International Workshop on Laser Ranging

International Laser Ranging Service

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