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

authored by: Klaus Abich, Andreas Baatzsch, Christina Bogan, Claus Braxmaier, Karsten Danzmann, Germán Fernández Barranco, Martin Gohlke, Gerhard Heinzel, Mark Herding, Martin Hinz, Marina Kaufer, Alexander Koch, Thomas Leikert, Christoph Mahrdt, Malte Misfeldt, Vitali Müller, Kolja Nicklaus, Jens Reiche, Josep Sanjuan, Daniel Schütze, Gunnar Stede, Kai Voss, Henry Wegener, Marcus Zimmermann
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.
Organisation(s): Institute of Gravitation Physics
QuantumFrontiers
External Organisation(s): DLR-Institute of Space Systems
SpaceTech GmbH Immenstaad (STI)
Volkswagen AG
Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
DLR-Institute of Quantum Technologies
Hensoldt Optronics GmbH
DLR-Institute for Satellite Geodesy and Inertial Sensing
Type: Article
Journal: Physical review applied
Volume: 24
ISSN: 2331-7019
Publication date: 24.10.2025
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Physics and Astronomy
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1103/7ps8-317c (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{e51f1d67f4f84965923cde37ce0f0d7c,
title = "Triple mirror assembly in the GRACE Follow-On laser ranging interferometer",
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.",
author = "Klaus Abich and Andreas Baatzsch and Christina Bogan and Claus Braxmaier and Karsten Danzmann and Barranco, {Germ{\'a}n Fern{\'a}ndez} and Martin Gohlke and Gerhard Heinzel and Mark Herding and Martin Hinz and Marina Kaufer and Alexander Koch and Thomas Leikert and Christoph Mahrdt and Malte Misfeldt and Vitali M{\"u}ller and Kolja Nicklaus and Jens Reiche and Josep Sanjuan and Daniel Sch{\"u}tze and Gunnar Stede and Kai Voss and Henry Wegener and Marcus Zimmermann",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the {"}https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/{"}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.",
year = "2025",
month = oct,
day = "24",
doi = "10.1103/7ps8-317c",
language = "English",
volume = "24",
journal = "Physical review applied",
issn = "2331-7019",
publisher = "American Physical Society",
number = "4",
}