Genesis mission patch

The Genesis mission will contribute to a highly improved International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) with an accuracy of 1 mm and a long-term stability of 0.1 mm/year. The ITRF is the foundation for all space and ground-based observations in navigation and Earth sciences – monitoring the terrestrial environment and setting it within a framework for mapping changes over time.

Genesis’ extreme accuracy will be achieved by co-locating the main geodetic (Earth-measuring) techniques—satellite navigation ranging, very-long-baseline interferometry, satellite laser ranging and DORIS—onboard one well-calibrated satellite that will act as a flying observatory. Flying all four techniques on a single satellite will allow determination and correction of biases inherent to each technique, leading to superior precision. The instruments will be synchronized by an ultra-stable oscillator (USO).

Read more about Genesis here.