Laser ranging positioning metrology for Galileo and the Moon

The SCF_Lab (Satellite/lunar/GNSS laser ranging/altimetry and Cube/microsat Characterization Facilities Laboratory) is a specialized infrastructure, unique worldwide, dedicated to design, characterization and modeling of the space segment of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) and Planetary Laser Ranging and Altimetry (PLRA) for industrial and scientific applications. We developed advanced laser retroreflectors for solar system exploration, geodesy and for precision tests of General Relativity (GR) and new gravitational physics. Our key experimental innovation is the concurrent measurement and modeling of the optical Far Field Diffraction Pattern (FFDP) and the temperature distribution of the SLR/LLR payload of retroreflectors under thermal conditions produced with a close-match solar simulator. The primary goal of these innovative tools is to provide critical design and diagnostic capabilities for SLR to Galileo and other GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) constellations. The implementation of new retroreflectors designs being studied will be helpful to improve GNSS orbits, increasing, this way, accuracy, stability, and distribution of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), in order to provide a better definition of the geocenter (origin) and the scale (length unit). The SCF is also actively used to develop, validate and optimize 2nd generation LLR arrays for precision tests of GR with the MoonLIGHT-2 (Moon Laser Instrumentation for General relativity High-accuracy Tests - Phase 2) project. Laser ranging and laser reflectors throughout the solar system are also used to develop new fundamental gravity physics models and study the experimental constraints to these models.