LARES Tungsten-Alloy Relativity Satellite
LARES is the Italian passive laser-ranging satellite design formed from a dense tungsten-alloy sphere with 92 corner-cube reflectors. Its high mass relative to exposed area reduces nongravitational orbital perturbations. It carries no active electronics, antennas or motors; terrestrial laser stations measure its orbit. The design supports tests of Earth’s frame dragging together with LAGEOS observations and gravity-field models, as well as geodesy and geophysics.
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Identity
- Aliases
- LARESLAser RElativity SatelliteLARES 1
- Family Name
- LARES
- Full Name
- LARES Tungsten-Alloy Relativity Satellite
- Roles
- orbiterresearch
- Status
- active
- Type
- spacecraft
Details
- Description
- LARES is the Italian passive laser-ranging satellite design formed from a dense tungsten-alloy sphere with 92 corner-cube reflectors. Its high mass relative to exposed area reduces nongravitational orbital perturbations. It carries no active electronics, antennas or motors; terrestrial laser stations measure its orbit. The design supports tests of Earth’s frame dragging together with LAGEOS observations and gravity-field models, as well as geodesy and geophysics.
- Dimensions
- Diameter
- …
- First Flight Year
- 2,012
- Operator
- Spacecraft Specs
- Launch Mass
- …
Links
- Official Url
- https://www.asi.it/en/earth-science/lares/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- October 29, 2026 at 16:03:15 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 29, 2026 at 16:03:15 UTC