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Triple mirror assembly in the GRACE Follow-On laser ranging interferometer

Klaus Abich1,*, Andreas Baatzsch2, Christina Bogan3,†, Claus Braxmaier1,‡, Karsten Danzmann3, Germán Fernández Barranco3, Martin Gohlke1,§, Gerhard Heinzel3, Mark Herding2 et al.

Martin Hinz4, Marina Kaufer2, Alexander Koch3,‖, Thomas Leikert4, Christoph Mahrdt3,¶, Malte Misfeldt3,**, Vitali Müller3, Kolja Nicklaus2, Jens Reiche3, Josep Sanjuan1,††, Daniel Schütze3,‡‡, Gunnar Stede3,§§, Kai Voss2, Henry Wegener3, and Marcus Zimmermann4

  • *Now at eleQtron GmbH, Hamburg, Germany.
  • †Now at Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg, Germany.
  • ‡Now at DLR Institut für Quantentechnologien, Ulm, Germany and Universität Ulm, Institute of Microelectronics, Ulm, Germany.
  • §Now at DLR Institut für Quantentechnologien, Ulm, Germany.
  • ‖Now at DLR Institut für Satellitengeodäsie und Inertialsensorik, Hannover, Germany.
  • Now at Siemens Mobility GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany.
  • **Contact author: malte.misfeldt@aei.mpg.de
  • ††Now at Texas A&M University, USA.
  • ‡‡Now at OHB-System AG, Bremen, Germany.
  • §§Now at Schule im Allertal, Winsen (Aller), Germany.
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Phys. Rev. Applied 24, 044076 – Published 24 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/7ps8-317c

Abstract

The Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) Follow-On mission was launched on May 22, 2018, to continue monitoring changes in the gravity field of the Earth by measuring distance variations between two spacecraft that fly 200 km apart in a low-Earth polar orbit. The laser ranging interferometer (LRI), a technology demonstrator onboard GRACE Follow-On, is the first of its kind to perform interspacecraft ranging measurements and has shown noise levels of 1 nm/Hz at 100 mHz and 200 pm/Hz at 5 Hz. Its development was shared between parties in Germany and the United States. A key optical component for the LRI’s success is the triple mirror assembly (TMA), which acts as a corner-cube retroreflector and enables the laser link between the two spacecraft. This paper presents the TMA design and characterization from the unit level to measurements in orbit. The in-orbit measurements furthermore provide the far-field intensity distribution of the Gaussian beams exchanged between the spacecraft after traveling 200 km. We address lessons learned that have influenced the design of the next generations of the LRI.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 24, 044076– Published 24 October, 2025
  • Received 19 December 2024
  • Revised 4 September 2025
  • Accepted 16 September 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by Max Planck Society.

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