Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) is an established technique providing very accurate position measurements of satellites in Earth orbit. However, despite decades of development, it remains a complex and expensive technology, which impedes its further growth to new applications and users. The miniSLR implements a complete SLR system within a small, transportable enclosure. Through this design, costs of ownership can be reduced significantly, and the process of establishing a new SLR site is greatly simplified. A number of novel technical solutions have been implemented to achieve a good laser ranging performance despite the small size and simplified design. Data from the initial six months of test operation have been used to generate a first estimation of the system performance. The data include measurements to many of the important SLR satellites, such as Lageos, Etalon and most of the geodetic and Earth observation missions in LEO. It is shown that the miniSLR achieves sub-centimetre accuracy, comparable with conventional SLR systems. The miniSLR is an engineering station in the International Laser Ranging Service and supplies data to the community. Continuous efforts are undertaken to further improve the system operation and stability.

卫星激光测距 (SLR) 是一项成熟的技术，可为地球轨道上的卫星提供非常精确的位置测量。然而，尽管经过了数十年的发展，它仍然是一项复杂且昂贵的技术，这阻碍了其进一步发展到新的应用程序和用户。 miniSLR 在小型、可移动的外壳内实现了完整的 SLR 系统。通过这种设计，可以显着降低拥有成本，并且大大简化建立新SLR站点的过程。尽管尺寸小且设计简化，但已经实施了许多新颖的技术解决方案以实现良好的激光测距性能。最初六个月测试运行的数据已用于生成系统性能的初步估计。这些数据包括许多重要的 SLR 卫星的测量数据，例如 Lageos、Etalon 以及 LEO 中的大多数大地测量和地球观测任务。结果表明，miniSLR 的精度达到了亚厘米级，与传统的 SLR 系统相当。 miniSLR 是国际激光测距服务的一个工程站，向社区提供数据。不断努力，进一步提高系统运行和稳定性。