Future Missions
| Satellite Name | Sponsor | Exp.Life Time | Purpose | Launch Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Approved by ILRS for Future SLR Tracking |
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| NISAR | NASA/JPL, ISRO | 3 yrs | Earth observation | 2024 |
| NXD-1 (SLAG) | Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology | 3 yrs | Positioning, geodesy | March 2023 |
| RANGE | Georgia Institute of Technology | 1 yr | Positioning information, precise orbit determination | December 03, 2018 |
Future Satellites with Retroreflectors |
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| ALOS-4 (Advanced Land Observing Satellite-4) | JAXA | ≥ 7 yrs | Observe the Earth's surface using its onboard phased array type L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR). | 2023-2024 |
| CRISTAL (Copernicus polaR Ice and Snow Topography ALtimeter) | EU/Copernicus, ESA | 2035 | Measure and monitor sea-ice thickness and overlying snow depth | ≥ 2027 |
| ETS-9 | MEXT, JAXA, MIC, and NICT | 16 yrs | Engineering Test Satellite. Achieve next generation geostationary satellite communication. | 2025 |
| Galileo (2nd Generation) | ESA | ≥ 10 yrs | Second generation satellites for the Galileo GNSS system. | Starting in 2024 |
| GENESIS | ESA | Colocation of the four space geodesy techniques (GNSS, SLR, VLBI, DORIS) in space. | Late 2020s | |
| GPS IIIF | DoD, DoT | 15 yrs | Provide improved positioning, navigation & timing. Colocation in space (SLR & GNSS). | TBD 2026+ |
| GRITSS (Geodetic Reference Instrument Transponder for Small Satellites) | NASA | ∼ 1 yr | Accurately tie collocated VLBI, SLR and GNSS systems to improve the Terrestrial Reference Frame.. | ≥ 2024 |
| HY-2E, 2F | National Satellite Ocean Application Service (NSOAS), China | ≥ 3 yrs | Oceanographic remote sensing satellite with a radar altimeter and other instrumentation | 2027-2030 |
| Lunar Pathfinder | ESA/NASA | Navigation support in lunar orbit with a lunar laser retroreflector | 2026 | |
| Mass Change mission | NASA/DLR | ≥ 7 yrs | Monitor mass change in the Earth system. Continue GRACE, GRACE-FO time series of data. | 2027-2028 |
| MAGIC (Mass change And Geosciences International Constellation) | ESA, NASA | ≥ 4 yrs | Form a Bender constellation with the Mass Change mission (NASA/DLR) to monitor mass change with higher temporal & spatial resolution. | 2031-2032 |
| NASA CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) Lander TO19D | NASA | Lunar Lander to Mare Crisium, with Next Generation. Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR PI. Prof. Douglas Currie, University of Maryland, USA) | ≥2024 | |
| NASA CLPS (PRISM) CP-11 | NASA, ESA | MoonLIGHT Pointing Actuator (MPAc), a Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (PI. Marco Muccino). onboard the Intuitive Machines Lunar Lander to Reiner Gammer | ≥ 2024 | |
| Sentinel-3C | EU/Copernicus, ESA, EUMETSAT | ≥ 2031 | Ocean surface topography measurement & ocean observation | 2024 |
| Sentinel-3D | EU/Copernicus, ESA, EUMETSAT | ≥ 2035 | Ocean surface topography measurement & ocean observation | 2028 |
| Sentinel-6B | Multi-agency | ≥ 2030 | Sea level monitoring & ocean surface topography | 2025 |
Related information
- Proposed but not implemented missions
