Laser Reflector Boosts GPS Satellite Accuracy

A NASA laser reflecting instrument that will improve Global Positioning System accuracy became operational on March 9. The device, called a laser retroreflector array (LRA), launched aboard GPS III SV-09, the ninth of U.S. Space Force’s Block III GPS satellites, on Jan.

27. LRAs are sets of mirrors shaped like the corners of a cube, designed to reflect beams of light precisely back to their source. That corner-cube configuration is a key component of laser ranging, a technique that measures exact distances by timing a pulse of light from a ground station to the mirrors and back.

"LRAs are the most efficient and cost-effective way to improve products that come out of GPS," said Lucia Tsaoussi, program manager for NASA’s Space Geodesy at NASA Headquarters in Washington. With the LRA in place, this satellite will have a stronger tie to the global coordinate system, producing more accurate location and navigation information for users.

United States, Washington

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