The progress of laser ranging technology at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

Abstract

As an important station of International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS), Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) has upgraded Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) system with high repetition rate and achieved some technological progress. There are a lot of improvements for overall system performance, such as annual observation passes, measurement precision and quality of observation data. SLR technology with repetition rate of 10 kHz is accomplished firstly in China, and space debris laser ranging technology with 200 Hz laser is promoted and proved to be more detective for weak echo, which lead to successful measurement for 40,000 km satellites and space debris within 3000 km. At the same time, SLR based on multi-telescopes and 1064 nm wavelength are planned to make a breakthrough of detection capabilities, and also to expand its application fields. These progresses will be introduced in this paper in detail. Keywords: Satellite laser ranging, Detection capability, Data quality, Space debris