Etalon-1 and -2
Jump to: Mission Objectives, Mission Instrumentation, Mission Parameters, Additional Information
Mission Photos:
Mission Objectives:
Etalon are a Russian family (Etalon-1, Etalon-2) of passive geodetic satellites dedicated to satellite laser ranging. Etalon-1 was the first geodynamic satellite launched by the former Soviet Union. The Etalon spacecraft were launched in 1989 in conjunction with a pair of GLObal'naya NAvigatisionnay Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS) satellites. The mission objectives were to determine a high accuracy terrestrial reference frame and earth rotation parameters, to improve the gravity field, and to improve the gravitational constant.
Mission Instrumentation:
The Etalon satellites are passive satellites. The only instrumentation is the retro-reflector array which consists of 2 different type of cube corners.
Mission Parameters:
| Etalon-1 | Etalon-2 | |
| Sponsor: | Russia | Russia |
| Expected Life: | hundreds of years | hundreds of years |
| Primary Applications: | geodesy | geodesy |
| COSPAR ID: | 8900103 | 8903903 |
| SIC Code: | 0525 | 4146 |
| Satellite Catalog (NORAD) Number: | 19751 | 20026 |
| Launch Date: | January 10, 1989 | May 31, 1989 |
| RRA Diameter: | 1.294 m | 1.294 m |
| RRA Shape: | circular | circular |
| Reflectors: | 2146 corner cubes | 2146 corner cubes |
| Orbit: | Circular | Circular |
| Inclination: | 64.9 degrees | 65.5 degrees |
| Eccentricity: | 0.00061 | 0.00066 |
| Perigee: | 19,120 km | 19,120 km |
| Period: | 676 minutes | 675 minutes |
| Weight: | 1415 kg | 1415 kg |
Additional Information:
- February 2019 tracking campaign
- Etalon array response (NERC/IPIE)
- Federation of American Scientists (FAS)
- JSC "Academician M.F. Reshetnev" Information Satellite Systems"
Publications
- Andritsch F., Grahsl A., Dach R., Schildknecht T., Jaeggi A. (2020). "Simulation of tracking scenarios to LAGEOS and Etalon satellites", J. Geodesy, 94(4), 40, DOI: 10.1007/s00190-019-01327-w
- Appleby, G.M., "Long-Arc analyses of SLR Observations of the Etalon Geodetic Satellites", Journal of Geodesy, Vol. 72, Issue 6, pp. 333-342, 1998.
- Appleby, G.M., "Orbit determination of the Lageos and Etalon satellites - A comparison of geodetic results and orbital evolution of the Etalons", Proc. Conf. on Dynamics and Astrometry of Natural and Artificial Celestial Bodies, Poznan, Poland, pp. 333-338, 1994.
- Dick, G., Gendt, G., Montag, H., Nischan, Th., and Sommerfeld, W., "Results of Etalon data analysis", Geodesy and Physics of the Earth-Geodetic Contributions to Geodynamics. Montag, H., Reigber, Ch. (Eds.), IAG No. 112, Potsdam, 1992, 315-318, Springer, London, 1993.
- Mironov, N.T., Emetz. A.I., Zaharov, A.N., and Tchebotarev, V.E., "ETALON-1, -2 Center of Mass Correction and Array Reflectivity", Proc. 8th Intern. Workshop on Laser Ranging Instrumentation, Annapolis, MD, May 18-22, 1993, NASA Conference Publ. 3214, p. 6-9, 1992.
- Sośnica K., Zajdel R., Bury G., Bosy J., Moore M., Masoumi S. (2020). "Quality assessment of experimental IGS multi-GNSS combined orbits", GPS Solutions, 24(2), 54, DOI: 10.1007/s10291-020-0965-5
- Torrence, M.H., Dunn, P.J., and Kolenkiewicz, R., "Characteristics of the LAGEOS and ETALON Satellites Orbits", Adv. Space Res., V.16, No. 12, pp. 21-24, 1995.
- Wiant, J., "Tunable Etalon Usage at MLRS Mcdonald Laser Ranging Station", 5th International Workshop on Laser ranging Instrumentation, Herstmonceux, U.K., published by Geodetic Institute, Univ. Bonn, p. 185, 1984.
