International Laser Ranging Service

20242023202220212020

2019201820172016201520142013201220112010

20092008200720062005200420032002

List of mission campaigns

Below are important mission/campaign milestones:

2024

• January 1 - Two BeiDou 3rd generation satellites successfully launched into orbit. URL: https://www.gpsworld.com/two-beidou-navigation-satellites-successfully-launched-into-orbit/

2023

• January 23 - Using GPS, GRACE & GRACE FO data, NASA measures underground water flowing from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Central Valley of California. NASA press release: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-measures-underground-water-flowing-from-sierra-to-central-valley
  
  GRL Journal paper: Argus, D.F., Martens, H.R., Borsa, A. et al. (2022). "Subsurface water flux in California's Central Valley and its source watershed from space geodesy". Geophysical Research Letters, 49, e2022GL099583. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099583
• January 29 - SARAL satellite enters safehold at 17:45 UTC.
• February 9 - SARAL satellite exits safehold and returns to normal operations.
• February 27 - The Cabinet Office (Government of Japan) has provided QZSS satellite property information and operational history. This information which is needed in order to implement advanced processing algorithms for precise orbit determination (POD) and precise point positioning (PPP). Press release: https://qzss.go.jp/en/technical/qzssinfo/index.html
• March 8 - NISAR (NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) science instruments arrive in India in advance of 2024 launch of the NASA-ISRO mission. NASA/JPL press release: https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/news/24/nasa-isro-science-instruments-arrive-in-india-ahead-of-2024-launch/
• March 10 - Tenth anniversary of the launch of the joint ISRO-CNES radar altimetry mission, SARAL/AltiKa on February 25, 2013. ISRO press release: https://www.isro.gov.in/saralcompletesadecade.html
• March 11 - ESA authorizes extension of its ESA Earth Explorer missions including CryoSat-2 & Swarm to 2025. ESA press release: https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/news/esa-s-excellent-earth-explorer-missions-extended-to-2025
• March 22 - NASA selects Firefly Aerospace to deliver the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft to lunar orbit. The Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft, sponsored by ESA and built by SSTL (Surrey Satellite Technology Limited) will carry a Laser retroreflector (supplied by NASA) and an ESA navigation receiver to detect the signals of the GPS and Galileo GNSS satellites. ESA press release: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Firefly_to_take_Lunar_Pathfinder_to_the_Moon
• March 24 - NASA and CNES (the French space agency) have released examples of the first scientific results obtained from the SWOT mission:
  
  CNES press release: https://presse.cnes.fr/fr/le-satellite-swot-de-suivi-et-de-mesure-des-eaux-livre-ses-premieres-observations
  
  NASA press release: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/joint-nasa-cnes-water-tracking-satellite-reveals-first-stunning-views
• April 14 - NASA Press Release. IceSAT-2 lasers spotted from ground in Japan. URL: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/thats-no-meteor-nasa-satellites-elusive-green-lasers-spotted-at-work
• April 26, 2023 - Swarm satellites Alpha & Charlie start Phase II of orbit campaign, which lasts through June 7, 2023. ESA press release: https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/news/swarm-alpha-and-charlie-orbit-raise-campaign-starting-on-26-april-2023-potential-impact-on-data-quality
• May 10, 2023 - Sentinel-6A detects early signs of El Niño. NASA press release: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/international-sea-level-satellite-spots-early-signs-of-el-nino
• May 29 - Ninth operational Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) satellite launched. The satellite joins the other IRNSS satellites currently on orbit. URL: https://www.gpsworld.com/navic-ninth-navigation-satellite-launched/
• June 1 - Galileo 2nd generation satellites enter development: ESA press release: URL: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Navigation/Galileo_Second_Generation_enters_full_development_phase
• June 7 - GRACE FO satellites show California water gains after record winter: URL: https://gracefo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/221/us-german-satellites-show-california-water-gains-after-record-winter/
• June 21 - Sentinel-6A data show that El Niño has returned: NASA Earth Observatory: URL: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151481/el-nino-returns
• July 20 - SWOT (Surface Water Ocean Topography) mission raises its orbit by 33 km to enter a 21-day repeat orbit: CNES Press release: URL: https://swot.cnes.fr/en/swot-satellite-climbs-higher-better-view
• October 20 - The TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X missions hold a science workshop at the DLR (German Aerospace Center) in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany: URL: https://www.dlr.de/blogs/en/all-blog-posts/what-is-new-about-the-german-radar-satellites.aspx
• October 23 - GPS Celebrates 50 years since approval for the design of the system: URL: https://www.gpsworld.com/gps-a-celebration-of-the-first-50-years/
• October 30 - SWOT (Surface Water Ocean Topography) mission provides unprecedented view of global sea levels: URL: https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/news/110/see-swot-missions-unprecedented-view-of-global-sea-levels/
• November 13 - NISAR (NASA ISRO SAR mission) satellite completes three weeks in thermal vacuum chamber at an ISRO facility in Bengaluru, India, in preparation for launch in early 2024. URL: https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/news/56/trailblazing-new-earth-satellite-put-to-test-in-preparation-for-launch/
• November 22 - CryoSat-2 switches to backup propulsion system. The switch could extend mission life by 5-10 years: URL: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Life_beyond_the_leak_for_ESA_s_CryoSat
• December 6 - SWOT (Surface Water Ocean Topography) mission releases the first data products: URL: https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/news/113/swot-data-first-public-release/
• December 14 - Journal paper summarizes scientific benefits of the joint ESA/NASA Mass-change and Geosciences International Constellation (MAGIC) mission: Daras et al. (2023). "Mass-change And Geosciences International Constellation (MAGIC) expected impact on science and applications", Geophys J. Intl., URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggad472

2022

• March 25 - QZS-1R. The Japanese Cabinet office announced that QZS-1R has started to provide normal services. The predecessor satellite, QZS-1, stopped transmitting signals and was shifted to standby operation. Japanese Cabinet office news report.
• March 26 - Pre-ship review for LARES-2 mission held, where ASI (the Italian Space Agency) checked the systems and authorized its shipment to the launch site, Kourou (French Guiana).
• April 4 - ICESat-2 observatory went into safe hold mode after re-orienting the solar array from sailboat to airplane orientation (ATLAS powered off and the observatory is pointing the telescope at the Earth to protect it). The ILRS lasing flag was set to nogo while investigation and recovery activities are occurring.
• April 7 - End of Jason-3 & Sentinel-6A tandem mission. Sentinel-6A takes over as reference altimetry mission for measurement of the change in Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL) from Jason-3. NASA/JPL Press Release.
• April 7-25 - Jason-3 performs a series of maneuvers to move to interleaved orbit with Sentinel-6A.
• April 11 - ICESat-2/ATLAS back in Science Mode (laser firing). Calibration activities follow, including TEP stares to assess timing stability, around the world scans for pointing calibration, and Alignment Monitoring and Control System (AMCS) calibrations to assess the boresighting of the ATLAS laser beams with the telescope. The mission expects to be pointing to the Reference Ground Tracks (RGT) close to April 21st, 2022, following a series of maneuvers.
• April 12 - Go/nogo flag set to GO until the next ICESat-2 maneuver on Thursday April 14th, 2022. SLR tracking by enabled stations resumed.
• April 17-30 - IRNSS SLR Tracking Campaign (organized at the request of ISRO by the ILRS Central Bureau).
• May 3, 2022: NISAR (NASA-ISRO SAR mission) holds science community town hall to provide an overview of the mission and the science products the mission will generate. NISAR is scheduled for launch in January 2024.
• May 3 – July 8: Swarm-A & Swarm-C conduct campaign to raise the satellite orbits by 45 km.
• May 11: Solar panels are tested for the SWOT (Surface Water Ocean Topography) mission, scheduled for launch in November 2022. NASA/JPL press release
• June 15 - TerraSAR-X celebrates 15 years in space, having completed 83050 orbits of the Earth and collecting 1.34 petabytes of data.
• June 28 - NASA approves continuation of ICESat-2 mission
• July 13 - LARES-2 satellite launched at 13:13 UTC from French Guiana on VEGA-C launch vehicle, and reaches the designed orbit (altitude, 5899 km; inclination 70.16 deg, eccentricity < 0.0025) by 1.5 hrs later.
• July 14 - ESA Swarm A & C satellites perform emergency maneuvers to dodge space debris.
• December 15 - Launch of the Surface Waters Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, a joint mission with NASA, the CNES, the Canadian Space Agency and the UK Space Agency:
  Press releases:
  NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-launches-international-mission-to-survey-earths-water/
  CNES: https://presse.cnes.fr/en/swot-satellite-launches-successfully-vandenberg-space-force-base-california
  Government of Canada: https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/news/articles/2022/20221216-swot-launched-successfully-with-canadian-contribution-onboard.asp
  UK Space Agency: https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/swot-surface-water-and-ocean-topography

2021

• March 23 - ELSA-d satellite launched. Astroscale Press Release.
• May 19 - HY-2D, the Haiyang-2D oceanography satellite launched. News article from "nasaspaceflight.com".
• June 30 - TUBIN, a microsatellite prepared by the Technical University of Berlin (Germany), launched from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX rocket. TU Berlin statement.
• October 26 - QZS-1R, a successor to the first Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) satellite, was launched at 11:19 a.m. Japan Standard Time, Oct. 26, from the Tanegashima Space Center. Article from "GPSWorld".
• December 5 - Two new Galileo satellites launched (Galileo-223, Galileo-224). Article from "GPSWorld".
• December 17, 2021. Cryosat-2 in safe hold mode from 2021/12/16 08:29 UTC to 2021/12/17 08:35 UTC.

2020

• January 2 - BLITS-M mission contacts report that the spacecraft has not separated from the orbital insertion unit. Investigations are underway regarding this issue.
• January 31 - JASON-3 in safe hold mode between 2020/01/31 at 04:51 UTC and 2020/02/04 at 15:59 UTC.
• February 5 - JASON-3 in safe hold mode between 2020/02/05 at 21:00 UTC and 2020/02/12 at 17:05 UTC.
• June 16 - JASON-3 in safe hold mode between 2020/06/16 at 21:50 UTC and 2020/06/19 at 07:25 UTC.
• June 21 - TanDEM-X celebrates 10 years in orbit since launch. DLR Press Release.
• Sept. 22 - HY-2C, the Haiyang-2C oceanography satellite launched.
• October 27 - JASON-3 in safe hold mode between 2020/10/27 at 13:23 UTC and 2020/10/29 at 08:19 UTC.
• November 21 - Sentinel-6A launched from Vandenburg AFB (California, USA). NASA Press Release.
• December 18 - Sentinel-6A starts tandem orbit phase with Jason-3 (the two satellites are 30 secs apart along the orbit track in order to calibrate the instruments on Sentinel-6A).

2019

• February 15 through May 15, 2019 - Etalon tracking campaign
• February 16 - At 14:56 UTC, Jason-2 entered safe mode
• February 24 - Jason-3 entered safe mode
• April 12 - Jason-3 returned to normal operations
• May 20 - Jason-2 returned to normal operations
• July 19 - Tiangong-2 was successfully de-orbited into the Pacific Ocean
• October 04 - the Jason-2 mission has ended; removed from priorities list
• October 29 - Tracking of the LighSail-2 satellite has ended; removed from priority list
• December 27 - BLITS-M launched

2018

• September 01, 2017-February 28, 2018 - QZS-2 tracking campaign
• November 01, 2017-February 28, 2018 - QZS-3 campaign
• December 01, 2017-February 28, 2018 - QZS-4 tracking campaign
• January 03 - GRACE-A in decommissioning phase; removed from priorities list
• February 15-May 15 - First LARGE campaign of 2018
• February 23 - SNET-1, -2, -3, and -4 added to the priorities list
• April 09 - Time Transfer by Laser Link (T2L2) mission onboard the Jason-2 satellite is now completed
• April 15 - Galileo-211 and -213 removed from priorities list; Galileo-215 and -216 added to priorities list
• May 7 - CHEFSat added to the priorities list
• May 8 - IRNSS-1I added to the priorities list
• May 22 - GRACE-FO-1 and -2 successfully launched
• May 25 - GRACE-FO-1 and -2 added to the priorities list
• July 27 - Tiangong-2 tracking approved
• July 27 - BeiDou-3M1, -3M2, -3M9, and -3M10 approved for tracking
• August 01-October 31 - Second LARGE campaign of 2018
• August 06 - BeiDou-3M2, -3M3, -3M9, and -3M10 added to priorities list
• August 21 - COSPAR ID and Satellite Catalog ID for Beidou-3M3 corrected to 1801802 and 43208, respectively
• December 15, 2018 - January 15, 2019 - GRACE-FO tracking campaign

2017

• December 19, 2016-March 02, 2017 - Galileo campaign
• January 15-April 15 - LARGE GLONASS campaign
• January 17 - Lomonosov removed from ILRS tracking list
• February 28 - Responsibility for the QZSS transitioned from JAXA to the Cabinet Office, Government of Japan
• March 01 - Galileo-207, -212, -213, -214 added to ILRS priority list
• March 03-April 05 - Galileo campaign
• March 11 - SpinSat re-entered Earth's atmosphere
• March 17 - Jason-2 entered safehold mode
• March 30 - Jason-2 returned to normal operations
• April 06-May 11 - Galileo campaign
• April 24-May 15 - IRNSS-1B campaign
• June 01 - Launch of QZS-2
• July 14 - Launch of TechnoSat
• August 04 - IRNSS-1A removed from priorities list
• August 19 - QZS-3 launched
• August 25-September 09 - IRNSS-1B campaign
• August 25-February 28, 2018 - QZS-2 campaign
• August 31 - IRNSS-1H launched failed
• September 01-February 28, 2018 - QZS-2 tracking campaign
• September 11 - GRACE-B removed from priorities list after contact lost
• September 12 - QZS-3 added to priorities list
• September 14 - Jason-2 entered safehold mode
• September 15 - GRACE-B returned to operational SLR tracking status after contact re-established
• September 22 - The GRACE-FO and Geo-IK-2 missions have been approved for tracking by the ILRS GB.
• September 22 - The ILRS has approved 2 new tracking stations - HRTL (a Russian station in Hartebeesthoek, South Africa and GEOL (a South Korean station in Geochang, Republic of Korea)
• October 10 - QZS-4 launched
• October 13 - Jason-2 is back in normal operating mode
• November 01 - QZS-4 added to priorities list
• November 01-February 28, 2018 - QZS-3 campaign
• November 16 - GRACE-B in decommissioning phase; removed from priorities list.
• November 28 - PN-1A removed from priorities list
• December 01-February 28, 2018 - QZS-4 tracking campaign

2016

• January 06 - The COSPAR and NORAD numbers in the CPF files for Compass-MS1 and Compass-MS2 were incorrect (they did not correspond to the TLE data); the numbers were switched by the prediction provider starting with CPF 5041 (dated January 05, 2016) and now correspond to the TLE data. The SIC numbers did NOT change.
  • Compass-MS1: NORAD ID=40749/COSPAR ID=1503702/SIC=2007
    
  • Compass-MS2: NORAD ID=40748/COSPAR ID=1503701/SIC=2008
    
  Data archived before the change will be replaced at the data centers shortly.
• January 06 - COMPASS-IS2 added to priorities list
• January 13 - GPS-36 removed from priorities list
• January 17 - Jason-3 was successfully launched from Vandenberg AFB.
• January 20 - IRNSS-1E was successfully launched.
• January 26 - Galileo-208 and -209 were added to the priorities list.
• February 16 - Sentinel-3A successfully launched.
• February 17 - IRNSS-1E was added to the priorities list.
• March 10- IRNSS-1F successfully launched.
• March 30 - Sentinel-3A was added to the priorities list.
• March 30-April 10 - IRNSS-1A tracking campaign
• May 01 - The GREAT experiment begins
• May 24 - Galileo-210 and -211 (Galileo-13 and -14) launched.
• July 04-August 30 - Special tracking campaign on Galileo-210 and -211
• August 04 - IRNSS-1A removed from list of tracked satellites as per request from mission
• September 13 - Lomonosov was added to the priorities list
• December 19, 2016-March 02, 2017 - Galileo campaign

2015

• November 22, 2014-January 31, 2015 - Second GNSS tracking campaign
• November 22, 2014 - February 28, 2015 - Second GNSS tracking campaign extension
• January 14 - Galileo-201 tracking campaign from 01/14/2015 through 02/07/2015
• February 15-22 - IRNSS-1C tracking campaign
• March 07-16 - Second IRNSS-1C tracking campaign
• March 16-26 - Galileo-202 tracking campaign
• March 28 - successful launch of Galileo-203 and -204
• March 28 - IRNSS-1D successfully launched
• March 30 - successful launch of COMPASS-IS1
• April 28 - PN-1A, PN-1B, PN-1C, PN-1D approved for tracking
• May 11 - Galileo-203 and -204 have been added to the priorities list.
• May 18 - The NISAR mission has been approved for tracking.
• May 18 - The tracking of GIOVE-A has ended and it has been removed from the priority list.
• May 20 - LightSail-1 launched
• June 7 - LightSail-1 sail was deployed and ILRS tracking began.
• July 25 - successful launch of COMPASS-MS1 and COMPASS-MS2
• August 05 - Mission priority list updated for the third SLR GNSS Tracking Campaign
• August - Launch of PN-1A, PN-1B, PN-1C, PN-1D
• August 10 - October 16 - Third SLR GNSS Tracking Campaign
• September 11 - Galileo-205 and -206 launched
• September 29 - SVN36 (GPS-36) has been reactivated; satellite added to SLR priority list
• October 22 - Galileo-205 and -206 made available for tracking
• November 01 - December 10 - Galileo-205 and -206 tracking campaign
• November 09 - COMPASS-MS1 and COMPASS-MS2 added to thepriority list
• November 12 - PN-1A added to the priority list
• November 17 - COMPASS-IS1 added to the priority list
• December 17 - Galileo-208 and -209 were successfully launched.

2014

• April 04 - IRNSS-1B successfully launched
• June 14 - GLONASS-133 successfully launched
• June 29-July 06 - IRNSS-1A tracking campaign
• August 01-September 30 - Pilot campaign for SLR tracking of GNSS
• August 10-17 - IRNSS-1B tracking campaign
• September 20 - SpinSat launch
• October 09 - IRNSS-1C successfully launched
• November 17 - IRNSS-1C added to mission priorities list
• November 18 - updated mission priorities list
• December 2 - Galileo-201 has been added to the mission priorities list

2013

• January 06-18 - Galileo-103 campaign
• January 19-30 - Galileo-104 campaign
• January 22 - BLITS collided with a piece of space debris.
• January 30 - STSAT-2C launch
• February 25 - The SARAL satellite was successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Spaceport in India at 12-31 UTC.
• March 07 - The second QZS-1 tracking campaign is now over.
• April 01 - The ILRS Governing Board approved tracking of the U.S. AFRL STPSat-2 mission.
• April 26 - GLONASS-131 launched .
• May 30 - The ILRS Governing Board approved resumption of tracking of the Envisat satellite for space debris research.
• July 01 - Jason-1 mission end
• July 01 - IRNSS-1A launch
• August 23 - KOMPSAT-5 launch
• October 16 - STPSat-2 tracking campaign ended
• October 21 - GOCE end of mission
• November 11 - GOCE re-entered Earth's atmosphere
• November 22 - Swarm launch

2012

• January 09 - ZY-3 launch
• February 13 - LARES launch
• March 13 - GLONASS-130 replaced GLONASS-125
• April 8 - Envisat mission ends
• July 5 - Three additional COMPASS satellites (COMPASS-M3, COMPASS-I3, and COMPASS-G1) have been approved for ILRS tracking.
• September 5 - The initial tracking campaign for ZY-3 ended.
• September 24 - GLONASS-127 replaced GLONASS-115 in the ILRS priority list.
• October 12 - Galileo IOV launched
• October 23 - GLONASS-129 replaced GLONASS-127 in the ILRS priority list.
• November 15 - 30 - Galileo-103, -104 pre-campaign
• November 26 - December 10 - Galileo-103 campaign
• December 11 -21 - Galileo-104 campaign
• December 22 - January 06, 2013: Galileo-103, Galileo-104 campaign

2011

• February 06 - PROBA-2 tracking campaign completed
• May 04 - GLONASS-125 replaced GLONASS-120
• July 04 - ERS-2 re-entry
• July 18 - RadioAstron launch
• August 16 - HY-2A launch
• October 21 - Galileo-101 and -102 launch

2010

• February 17 - GPS-35 tracking resumes (until April 29)
• March 21 - April 06 - PROBA-2 tracking campaign
• March 28 - ANDE-Pollux re-entry
• April 06 - GLONASS-120 replaces GLONASS-109 in ILRS tracking list
• April 08 - CryoSat-2 launch
• April 22 - APOLLO tracks Lunokhod 1
• June 10 - STSAT-2B launch failure
• June 21 - TanDEM-X launch
• July 12-August 13 - GIOVE-B campaign
• August 18 - ANDE-Castor re-entry
• August 30 - ICESat re-entry
• September 11 - QZS-1 launch
• September 20 - CHAMP re-entry

2009

• January 23 - SOHLA-1 launch
• March 17 - GOCE launch
• March 02-22 - SOHLA-1 campaign
• March 31 - GLONASS-115 replaces GLONASS-99 in ILRS tracking list
• June 17 - LRO launch
• July 8 - GLONASS-100 added to tracking schedules
• July 30 - ANDE launch
• August 25 - STSAT-2A launch failure; satellite lost
• September 17- BLITS launch
• November 2 - PROBA-2 launch
• MicroSCOPE launch

2008

• January 21 - February 10 - GIOVE-A tracking campaign (mid beta angle in 2008)
• March 01-23 - GIOVE-A tracking campaign (eclipse season)
• March 21-May 31 - GPS tracking campaign
• April 26 - GIOVE-B launch
• May 28 - GLONASS-109 replaces GLONASS-95 in ILRS tracking list
• June - Jason-2 (with T2L2) launch
• September 26-October 21 - GIOVE-A/B tracking campaign (eclipse season)
• November 12 - End of GFO-1 tracking
• Galileo initial launch

2007

• January 12 - GLONASS-99 replaces GLONASS-87 in ILRS tracking list
• May 04 - GLONASS-102 replaces GLONASS-89 in ILRS tracking list
• June 15 - TerraSAR-X launch
• June 08-28 - GIOVE-A tracking campaign (max beta angle in 2007)
• September 05-30 - GIOVE-A tracking campaign (eclipse season)
• October 18-November 08 - GIOVE-A tracking campaign (mid beta angle value in 2007)
• December 05-25 - GIOVE-A tracking campaign (min beta angle in 2007)
• December - PROBA-2 launch
• December - GIOVE-B (GSTB v2) launch

2006

• January 18 - TOPEX mission termination
• January 24 - ALOS launch
• June 01 - Tracking on Gravity Probe B (GP-B) ceases as per mission request
• May 22-July 23 - First GIOVE-A tracking campaign
• November 01-December 31 - Second GIOVE-A tracking campaign
• ANDE-RR launch
• ETS-VIII launch

2005

• May 05 - IRSP5 (CARTOSAT1) launch
• August 23 - OICETS launch
• August 25 - GLONASS-95 replaces GLONASS-84 in ILRS tracking roster
• September 12-27 - CONT-05 (increased tracking on GPS and satellites w/GPS receivers)
• September 20-27 - Jason-1 in safe hold mode
• October 06 - CryoSat launch failure; satellite lost
• December 26 - GIOVE-A (GSTB v2/A) launch

2004

• April 20 - Gravity Probe B (GP-B) launch
• November 01 - DORIS transmitter on TOPEX failed; SLR only means of POD
• December 26 - GLONASS-95, -96, -97 launched

2003

• January 13 - ICESat launch, campaign to begin at least 1 month after launch
• January 22 - STARSHINE-3 enters Earth's upper atmosphere
• March 26 - GLONASS-89 replaces GLONASS-86 in ILRS tracking roster
• November - Start of Larets tracking campaign
• Deccember 10 - GLONASS-92, -93, -94 launched

2002

• March 01 - Envisat launch
• March 17 - GRACE launch
• October - Etalon is elevated from a campaign to a mission, while maintaining the highest priority of the high satellites
• October - Meteor-3M gets elevated from a campaign to a mission
• December 10 - Meteor-3M launch
• December 14 - ADEOS-2 launch, campaign to end launch + 34 days
• December 25 - GLONASS-89, -90, -91 launched