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IERS Message No. 550                                   February 09, 2026
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Reminder: Genesis Session at COSPAR - Abstract deadline 13.02.2026


Dear Colleagues,

This is a reminder for the next COSPAR Scientific Assembly that will be
held on 01.-09. August 2026 in Florence, Italy:

https://www.cospar-assembly.org/assembly.php

In particular, we would like to draw your attention to the session
PSD.2: Genesis:

https://www.cospar-assembly.org/admin/session_cospar.php?session=1543

The abstract deadline is approaching. Important dates:

- 13 February 2026: Abstract submission deadline
- 17 May 2026: End of early registration fees

Looking forward to meeting you in Florence!
Urs Hugentobler
Krzysztof Sosnica
Johannes Bohm

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Session description:
Genesis is a mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) approved for
launch in 2028. It realizes all major space ties on a satellite in a
near-polar orbit at about 6000 km altitude, connecting two GNSS antennas
connected to a common receiver, an SLR retroreflector, a DORIS receiver
and a dedicated VLBI transmitter.
The ESA mission Genesis will provide well-calibrated space ties for all
space geodetic techniques, GNSS, SLR, VLBI, DORIS, benefiting the
realization of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame and
supporting the goal to achieve a reference frame precision of 1mm and
stability of 0.1mm/yr, revealing inconsistencies between techniques.
The consistent ITRF realization with Genesis-based space ties and 
precise orbit determination based on all space geodetic techniques
require the development of new processing and combination strategies. 
In preparation of the Genesis mission this session aims to discuss the
status, scientific opportunities and challenges of the exploitation of
the mission. Contributions are solicited from, but not limited to, the
following areas: (1) status of the mission and the instruments onboard,
(2) calibration strategies, (3) scenarios for the utilization of Genesis
including new scientific opportunities, (4) observation strategies,
(5) Genesis orbit modelling, (6) Genesis orbit determination using the
different techniques, (7) combination at the observation level and other
combination strategies, (8) experiences with exploitation of already
available space ties on current satellite missions, (9) simulation
studies on impact of Genesis, (10) future ITRF realizations using new
types of observations.

Abstract submission deadline:  February 13, 2026
Notification of acceptance:  April 13, 2026
Early bird registration closes:  May 17, 2026

The Assembly web page address is:
https://www.cospar-assembly.org
The Call for Abstracts may be found at:
<https://issuu.com/jccospar/docs/call_for_abstracts_2026?fr=sMzY4Njg3MzM
2Njg>


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