The future of the satellite Gravimetry after the GOCE mission

Abstract

Launched on March 17th 2009 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome (Northern Russia), GOCE maps the Earth's gravity field with unprecedented accuracy and resolution and will be of benefit for many branches of Earth science. This paper gives an overview of the European Space Agency's (ESA) recent technical developments and activities going beyond the GOCE mission and its technology. It describes the outcome of the recent Laser SST concept studies, the Laser metrology concept and the objectives of the ongoing parallel Next Generation Gravimetry Mission studies, together with an overview on the latest technology development studies on atomic clocks and atom interferometry for possible future gravity sensing. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012.