Estimating global geodetic parameters using SLR observations to Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, GPS, and QZSS.

All Galileo, GLONASS, QZSS, and BeiDou satellites are equipped with laser retroreflector arrays dedicated to satellite laser ranging (SLR). Using SLR data to new GNSS systems allows for estimating global geodetic parameters, such as Earth rotation parameters, global scale, and geocenter coordinates. In this study, we evaluate the quality of global geodetic parameters estimated on a basis of SLR tracking of new GNSS satellites and the combined solution based on SLR observations to GNSS and LAGEOS. We show that along with a progressive populating of Galileo orbital planes, the quality of geocenter components based on SLR-GNSS data has been improved to the level of 6 and 15 mm for equatorial and polar geocenter components, respectively. The scale of the reference frame and the geocenter coordinates in the combined LAGEOS + GNSS solutions are dominated by the LAGEOS data. Some noncore SLR stations provide by far more observations to GNSS than to LAGEOS, e.g., Russian and Chinese stations dedicated to supporting GLONASS and BeiDou constellations. The number of solutions for these stations can be increased by up to 40%, whereas the station coordinate repeatability can be improved from about 20-30 mm to the level of 15-20 mm when considering both SLR to LAGEOS and SLR to GNSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]