Satellite laser ranging (SLR) is one of the space methods developed since the mid-1960s to accurately determine the position of a spacecraft and its orbit and to determine positions on the Earth's surface. A laser range observation is a time and a distance (range) from the laser tracking system on the Earth's surface to a spacecraft in orbit. The observation is obtained by measuring the time taken by a short pulse of light to travel to the spacecraft and return to the Earth (Fig. 1).
Concept of laser ranging station.
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Bibliography
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© 1989 Van Nostrand Reinhold
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Smith, D.E. (1989). Satellite laser positioning . In: Geophysics. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30752-4_118
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30752-4_118
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