It is estimated that today several hundred operational satellites are orbiting Earth while many more either have already reentered the atmosphere or are no longer operational. On the 13th of February 2012 one more satellite of the Italian Space Agency has been successfully launched. The main difference with respect to all other satellites is its extremely high density that makes LARES not only the densest satellite but also the densest known orbiting object in the solar system. That implies that the nongravitational perturbations on its surface will have the smallest effects on its orbit. Those design characteristics are required to perform an accurate test of frame dragging and specifically a test of Lense-Thirring effect, predicted by General Relativity. LARES satellite, although passive, with 92 laser retroreflectors on its surface, was a real engineering challenge in terms of both manufacturing and testing. Data acquisition and processing are in progress. The paper will describe the scientific objectives, the status of the experiment, the special feature of the satellite and separation system including some manufacturing issues, and the special tests performed on its retroreflectors.


    Access

    Download


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    LARES: A New Satellite Specifically Designed for Testing General Relativity


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2015




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    Unknown




    LARES satellite thermal forces and a test of general relativity

    Matzner, Richard / Nguyen, Phuc / Brooks, Jason et al. | IEEE | 2016


    The lares mission for testing the dynamics of general relativity

    Ciufolini, I. / Currie, D.G. / Paolozzi, A. | IEEE | 2003


    2.1002 The LARES Mission for Testing the Dynamics of General Relativity

    Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2003


    The constellation of LARES and LAGEOS satellites for testing General Relativity

    Ciufolini, Ignazio / Sindoni, Giampiero / Paolozzi, Antonio et al. | IEEE | 2015


    TEMPERATURE ESTIMATE OF LARES 2 SATELLITE

    Paris, Claudio / Battaglia, Giuliano / Bertacin, Roberto et al. | TIBKAT | 2021