Editing LAGEOS (section)

== Mission goals ==
The LAGEOS mission consists of the following key goals:
* Provide an accurate measurement of the satellite's position with respect to Earth.
* Determine the planet's shape ([[geoid]]).
* Determine [[tectonic plate]] movements associated with [[continental drift]].

Ground tracking stations located in many countries (including the US, Mexico, France, Germany, Poland, Australia, Egypt, China, Peru, Italy, and Japan) have ranged to the satellites and data from these stations are available worldwide to investigators studying [[Crust (geology)|crustal]] dynamics.

There are two LAGEOS spacecraft, LAGEOS-1 launched in 1976, and LAGEOS-2 launched in 1992. {{As of|2024}}, both LAGEOS spacecraft are routinely tracked by the [[ILRS network]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ilrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/satellite_missions/current_missions/lag1_support.html |title=International Laser Ranging Service |website=Ilrs.gsfc.nasa.gov |date=2012-09-17 |accessdate=2016-02-22}}</ref>