Precise Orbit Determination With Slr: Setting The Standard

The technique of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) provides a direct andunambiguous observation of the distance between a station on the surfaceof Earth and specially equipped spacecraft. This paper discusses thedevelopment with time of the technique, the computation model that isnecessary to derive a highly accurate description of the satelliteephemeris and the quality of the latter. At this moment, an absolute measurement accuracy of better than 1 cm, highly detailed computation models and orbital qualities of several centimeters arestate-of-the-art.