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ILRS Mission Priorities as of April 19, 2017

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

  • Priorities decrease with:
    • increasing orbital altitude; and
    • increasing orbital inclination (at a given altitude).
  • Priority of some satellites may then be increased to intensify support for:
    • active missions (such as altimetry);
    • special campaigns (such as IGEX 98); or
    • post-launch intensive tracking phases; and
  • 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:

Current Priority Table (Past Priority Tables)

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 PN-1A pn1a 1504905 2203 BACC 720 97.47  
3 CryoSat-2 cryosat2 1001301 8006 ESA 450-120 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 STSAT-2C stsat2c 1300301 3804 MEST, KAIST 300 - 1500 80  
7 Sentinel-3A sentinel3a 1601101 8010 ESA/EUMETSAT 814.5 98.65

Restricted tracking; authorization required
8 Swarm-A/C swarma
swarmc		 1306702
1306703		 8007
8009		 ESA 460
530		 88.35
88.95		  
9 Swarm-B swarmb 1306701 8008 ESA 460 88.35  
10 KOMPSAT-5 kompsat5 1304201 3803 KARI 550 96.7  
11 RadioAstron radioastro 1103701 5559 Lavochkin Association 500-350,000 51.4 Campaign tracking with specific stations
12 SARAL saral 1300901 3201 CNES and ISRO 814 98.55  
13 HY-2A hy2a 1104301 2201 China 971 99.35  
14 Jason-3 jason3 1600201 4379 NASA, CNES, Eumetsat, NOAA 1,336 66.0  
15 Jason-2 jason2 0803201 1025 NASA, CNES, Eumetsat, NOAA 1,336 66.0  
16 Larets larets 0304206 5557 IPIE 691 98.204  
17 Starlette starlette 7501001 1134 CNES 815-1,100 49.8  
18 Stella stella 9306102 0643 CNES 815 98.6  
19 LARES lares 1200601 5987 ASI 1,450 69.5  
20 LAGEOS-2 lageos2 9207002 5986 ASI/NASA 5,625 52.6  
21 LAGEOS-1 lageos1 7603901 1155 NASA 5,850 109.8  
22 Etalon-1 etalon1 8900103 0525 Russia 19,100 65.3  
23 Etalon-2 etalon2 8903903 4146 Russia 19,100 65.2  
24 Ajisai ajisai 8606101 1500 JAXA 1,485 50  
25 GLONASS-131 glonass131 1301901 9131 Russia 19,140 65  
26 GLONASS-134 glonass134 1407501 9134 Russia 19,140 65  
27 GLONASS-136 glonass136 1603201 9136 Russia 19,140 65  
28 Galileo-212 galileo212 1606902 7212 ESA 23,220 56  
29 Galileo-213 galileo213 1606903 7213 ESA 23,220 56  
30 Galileo-202 galileo202 1405002 7202 ESA 23,220 56  
31 Galileo-201 galileo201 1405001 7201 ESA 23,220 56  
32 COMPASS-M3 compassm3 1201801 2004 China 21,528 55.0  
33 COMPASS-MS1 compassms1 1503702 2007 China 21,528 55.0  
34 COMPASS-MS2 compassms2 1503701 2008 China 21,528 55.0  
35 GLONASS-123 glonass123 1004102 9123 Russia 19,100 65  
36 GLONASS-125 glonass125 1100901 9125 Russia 19,100 65  
37 GLONASS-128 glonass128 1106401 9128 Russia 19,100 65  
38 Galileo-102 galileo102 1106002 7102 ESA 23,220 56  
39 Galileo-103 galileo103 1205501 7103 ESA 23,220 56  
40 Galileo-203 galileo203 1501701 7203 ESA 23,220 56  
41 Galileo-205 galileo205 1504501 7205 ESA 23,220 56  
42 Galileo-208 galileo208 1507902 7208 ESA 23,220 56  
43 COMPASS-I6B compassib6 1602101 2012 China 35,677 55.0  
44 COMPASS-IS1 compassis1 1501901 2006 China 35,790.2 55.6  
45 COMPASS-IS2 compassis2 1505301 2010 China 35,790.2 55.6  
46 COMPASS-G1 compassg1 1000101 2002 China 35,792.9 1.53  
47 GLONASS-129 glonass129 1106402 9129 Russia 19,100 65  
48 GLONASS-133 glonass133 1403201 9133 Russia 19,100 65  
49 IRNSS-1F irnss1f 1601501 3306 ISRO 35,786 29  
50 IRNSS-1E irnss1e 1600301 3305 ISRO 35,786 29  
51 IRNSS-1D irnss1d 1501801 3304 ISRO 42,293 30.5  
52 IRNSS-1C irnss1c 1406101 3303 ISRO 42,293 5  
53 IRNSS-1B irnss1b 1401701 3302 ISRO 42,293 31  
54 QZS-1 qzs1 1004501 1581 JAXA 32,000-40,000 45 WPLTN tracking only
55 Galileo-101 galileo101 1106001 7101 ESA 23,220 56  
56 Galileo-104 galileo104 1205502 7104 ESA 23,220 56  
57 Galileo-204 galileo204 1501702 7204 ESA 23,220 56  
58 COMPASS-I3 compassi3 1101301 2003 China 35,790.2 55.6  
59 COMPASS-I5 compassi5 1107301 2005 China 35,790.2 55.6  
60 Galileo-206 galileo206 1504502 7206 ESA 23,220 56  
61 Galileo-207 galileo207 1606901 7207 ESA 23,220 56  
62 Galileo-209 galileo209 1507901 7209 ESA 23,220 56  
63 Galileo-210 galileo210 1603002 7210 ESA 23,220 56  
64 Galileo-211 galileo211 1603001 7211 ESA 23,220 56  
65 Galileo-214 galileo214 1606904 7214 ESA 23,220 56  
66 Beacon-C beaconc 6503201 0317 NASA 950-1300 41 Upgraded from a campaign to
ongoing mission (Jan 2002)

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