ILRS Mission Priorities

The ILRS has ordered its tracking priority list according to satellite orbital parameters and special project needs.Tracking priorities have been ordered as follows:

1. Priorities decrease with:

a. increasing orbital altitude; and
b. increasing orbital inclination (at a given altitude).

2. Priority of some satellites may then be increased to intensify support for:

a. active missions (such as altimetry);
b. special campaigns (such as IGEX 98); or
c. post-launch intensive tracking phases; and

3. Some slight reordering may be done to give higher priority missions with increased importance to the analysis community.

Stations may adjust priorities to accommodate local conditions such as system capabilities, weather, and special program interests.

Satellite sponsors request for tandem mission, satellites be tracked on alternate passes.

Related Links: Prediction Providers, Prediction Types

Current Priority Table

Priority	Mission	ILRS Name	COSPAR ID	SIC	Sponsor	Altitude (km)	Inclination (degrees)	Comments
1	GRACE-A/B	gracea graceb	0201201 0201202	8003 8004	GFZ/JPL	485-500	89	tandem mission
2	CHAMP	champ	0003902	8002	GFZ	429-474	87.27
3	TerraSAR-X	terrasarx	0702601	6201	Infoterra/ DLR/GFZ/CSR	514	97.44
4	GFO-1	gfo1	9800701	8501	US Navy	790	108.0	altimetry/no other tracking technique
5	Envisat	envisat	0200901	6179	ESA	796	98.6	tandem with ERS-2
6	ERS-2	ers2	9502101	6178	ESA	800	98.6	tandem with Envisat
7	Jason-1	jason1	0105501	4378	NASA/CNES	1,350	66.0
8	Jason-2	jason2	0803201	1025	NASA, CNES, Eumetsat, NOAA	1,336	66.0	tandem with Jason-1
9	OICETS	oicets	0503101	1578	JAXA	610	97.83	new campaign
10	Larets	larets	0304206	5557	IPIE	691	98.204
11	Starlette	starlette	7501001	1134	CNES	815-1,100	49.8
12	Stella	stella	9306102	0643	CNES	815	98.6
13	Ajisai	ajisai	8606101	1500	JAXA	1,485	50
14	LAGEOS-2	lageos2	9207002	5896	ASI/NASA	5625	52.6
15	LAGEOS-1	lageos1	7603901	1155	NASA	5850	109.8
16	Beacon-C	beaconc	6503201	317	NASA	950-1300	41	upgraded from a campaign to ongoing mission (Jan 2002)
17	GIOVE-B	gioveb	0802001	7002	ESA	29,601	56
18	Etalon-1	etalon1	8900103	0525	Russia	19,100	65.3
19	Etalon-2	etalon2	8903903	4146	Russia	19,100	65.2
20	GLONASS-99	glonass99	0505002	9099	Russia	19,100	65	replaced GLONASS-87 (12-Jan-2007)
21	GLONASS-109	glonass109	0706503	9109	Russia	19,100	65	replaced GLONASS-95 (28-May-2008)
22	GLONASS-102	glonass102	0606201	9102	Russia	19,100	65	replaced GLONASS-89 (04-May-2007)
23	GPS-35	gps35	9305401	3535	US DoD	20,100	54.2
24	GPS-36	gps36	9401601	3636	US DoD	20,100	55.0
25	GIOVE-A	giovea	0505101	7001	ESA	29,601	56

Lunar Tracking Priorities

Priority	Retroreflector Array	ILRS Name	COSPAR ID	SIC	Sponsor	Altitude(km)
1	Apollo15	apollo15	0000103	N/A	NASA	356,400
2	Apollo11	apollo11	0000100	N/A	NASA	356,400
3	Apollo14	apollo14	0000102	N/A	NASA	356,400
4	Luna21	luna21	0000101	N/A	Russian Federation	356,400
5	Luna17	luna17	0000104	N/A	Russian Federation	356,400

Responsible Government Official: Carey Noll
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