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	GOCE	goce	0901301	0499	ESA	295	96.7
2	GRACE-A/B	gracea graceb	0201201 0201202	8003 8004	GFZ/JPL	485-500	89	Tandem mission
3	CryoSat-2	cryosat2	1001301	8006	ESA	720	92
4	TanDEM-X	tandemx	1003001	6202	Infoterra/ DLR/GFZ/CSR	514	98	Tandem with TerraSAR-X
5	TerraSAR-X	terrasarx	0702601	6201	Infoterra/ DLR/GFZ/CSR	514	97.44	Tandem with TanDEM-X
6	RadioAstron	radioastro	1103701	5559	Lavochkin Association	500-350,000	51.4	Campaign tracking with specific stations
7	Envisat	envisat	0200901	6179	ESA	796	98.6	Tandem with ERS-2
8	BLITS	blits	0904907	5558	Russia	832	98.77
9	HY-2A	hy2a	1104301	2201	China	971	99.35
10	Jason-1	jason1	0105501	4378	NASA/CNES	1,350	66.0	Tandem with Jason-2
11	Jason-2	jason2	0803201	1025	NASA, CNES, Eumetsat, NOAA	1,336	66.0	Tandem with Jason-1
12	Larets	larets	0304206	5557	IPIE	691	98.204
13	Starlette	starlette	7501001	1134	CNES	815-1,100	49.8
14	Stella	stella	9306102	0643	CNES	815	98.6
15	LARES	lares	1200601	5987	ASI/ESA	1,450	69.5
16	LAGEOS-2	lageos2	9207002	5986	ASI/NASA	5,625	52.6
17	LAGEOS-1	lageos1	7603901	1155	NASA	5,850	109.8
18	Ajisai	ajisai	8606101	1500	JAXA	1,485	50
19	QZS-1	qzs1	1004501	1581	JAXA	32,000-40,000	45	WPLTN tracking only
20	Beacon-C	beaconc	6503201	0317	NASA	950-1300	41	Upgraded from a campaign to ongoing mission (Jan 2002)
21	Etalon-1	etalon1	8900103	0525	Russia	19,100	65.3
22	Etalon-2	etalon2	8903903	4146	Russia	19,100	65.2
23	COMPASS-M1	compassm1	0701101	2001	China	21,500	55.5
24	COMPASS-I3	compassi3	1101301	2003	China	42,161	55.6
25	COMPASS-G1	compassg1	1000101	2002	China	42,163	1.53
26	GLONASS-115	glonass115	0806702	9115	Russia	19,100	65	Replaced GLONASS-99 (31-Mar-2009)
27	GLONASS-130	glonass130	1107101	9130	Russia	19,100	65	Replaced GLONASS-125 (13-Mar-2012)
28	GLONASS-102	glonass102	0606201	9102	Russia	19,100	65	Replaced GLONASS-89 (04-May-2007)
29	GPS-36	gps36	9401601	3636	US DoD	20,100	55.0
30	Galileo-101	galileo101	1106001	7101	ESA	23,220	56
31	Galileo-102	galileo102	1106002	7102	ESA	23,220	56	Tracking campaign
32	GIOVE-A	giovea	0505101	7001	ESA	23,916	56
33	GIOVE-B	gioveb	0802001	7002	ESA	23,916	56
34	GLONASS-109	glonass109	0706503	9109	Russia	19,100	65
35	GLONASS-110	glonass110	0804601	9110	Russia	19,100	65
36	GLONASS-118	glonass118	0907003	9118	Russia	19,100	65

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

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