Summary
We discuss the possibility of measuring the Lense-Thirring (LT) gravitomagnetic effect on a «test-particle», usinga) orbital elements other than the nodal longitude andb) existing or planned earth satellites and in particular laser-ranged satellites such as LAGEOS (hereafter, LAGEOS-I) LAGEOS-II and LAGEOS-III. Our conclusion is that, using the presently available satellites, the only orbital parameter suitable to measure the LT effect is the nodal longitude. Furthermore, existing or planned laser-ranged satellites, such as LAGEOS-I and LAGEOS-II, would not give enough information to measure the gravitomagnetic effect, unless a new satellite, such as LAGEOS-III, Ciufolini (1984), with inclinationsupplementary to that of LAGEOS-I, will be launched. For this purpose, we also discuss the orbital injection accuracy requirements for the LAGEOS-III satellite.
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Casotto, S., Ciufolini, I., Vespe, F. et al. Earth satellites and gravitomagnetic field. Nuov Cim B 105, 589–599 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02722886
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02722886