Due to the COVID 19, we have had to postpone our laser workshops, our annual seminal events, in 2020 and 2021. The ILRS again wishes to provide the opportunity for our worldwide community to meet, at least virtually, and share. Following the success of the Virtual World Tour last year, we will hold another Virtual World Tour between October 25-29, 2021, to virtually visit 5 stations in 5 days, stopping at Herstmonceux (UK), Wetzell (DE), Mendeleevo (RU), Shanghai (PRC), Monument Peak (USA).

The portal for submitting papers for the IAG2021 volume of the IAG Symposia Series is now open. Paper submission will be open until September 30, but we will start the peer review of papers as soon as they are submitted. All papers that are accepted will be available online after acceptance.

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the former IAG president Prof. Wolfgang Torge, and the 80th anniversary of Prof. Günter Seeber, a dedicated colloquium is organised at the Leibniz University Hannover on June 8, 2021, 4 pm CEST.

We invite you to attend the IAG workshop on « Quantum gravimetry in space and on ground » 26th and 27th of May 2021 2:00-5:00 PM CEST.
This meeting covers quantum gravity sensing, from the development of the sensors and their characterization, to a large panel of present and future applications.

With the IGS workshop being postponed to 2022, IGS is looking forward to connect with the community in the form of a series of virtual talks or “mini-workshops” throughout this year.

The IAG Scientific Assembly will be held in Beijing on June 28–July 2, 2021. The Scientific Assembly is a quadrennial event, in the middle of the periods of the IAG General Assembly. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Assembly will be organized as a hybrid meeting.

IAG's Global Geodetic Observing System works together with the IAG Components – technical services, commissions, inter-commission-committees and IAG-projects – for monitoring the Earth system and global change research. GGOS has launched its new website at www.ggos.org, where you can read how geodesy and geodetic observations can contribute to the deeper understanding of our living planet, the Earth!

A brief report on the UN-GGIM 10th session

The new Membership application page is now opened! This is good time to renew your IAG membership or join IAG for the first time!

The International Autumn School "NEROGRAV" took place 5-9 October 2020 in Bad Neuenahr (near Bonn), Germany. The school was organized by the Research Unit NEROGRAV (New Refined Observations of Climate Change from Spaceborne Gravity Missions) which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

On behalf of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), namely of President Zuheir Altamimi, of the IAG Executive Committee, and of the entire IAG community, we wish to present to Ivan Mueller cordial wishes for his ninetieth birthday on January 9, 2020, and for the years to come. The undersigned know Ivan Mueller from Post-Doc years and subsequent visits at Ohio State University (OSU), from visits of Ivan Mueller at the Technical University of Munich, and from the creation of the International GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) Service (IGS).

It is my pleasure to welcome you all, dear visitors of the IAG website, or readers of the IAG Newsletter. It is a great honor for me to serve as IAG President for the period 2019-2023, and to work with the members of the Executive Committee to advance geodesy and our association.

Prior to the 2019 ILRS Workshop, the ILRS scheduled a one-day introductory course to give non-practitioners in SLR an opportunity to broaden their knowledge about laser ranging to Earth-orbiting satellites and the Moon. The course also provided attendees with some experience in the field an opportunity to refresh and strengthen their knowledge and increase their appreciation of this powerful measurement technique that supports geoscience and applications.

This year’s International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) Technical Workshop was hosted by German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Stuttgart, Germany, from October 21st to 25th. Following the motto “Laser ranging: To improve economy, performance, and adoption for new applications” the presentations were focused on the technical challenges for the satellite laser ranging (SLR) ground segment.

Levallois Medal presented to Christoph Reigber at Geoscientific Colloquium at the GFZ on the occasion of his 80th birthday for his outstanding research activities

During the IUGG General Assembly in Montreal the IAG Executive Committee (EC) established a new IAG Inter-Commission Committee on "Geodesy for Climate Research" (ICCC) to enhance the use of geodetic observations for climate studies. The goal is to establish a systematic and comprehensive approach among the various geodetic communities, but also to establish and foster links to climate science.

The new geodetic Earth observatory built by the Norwegian Mapping Authority (NMA) in Ny-Ålesund, 79 degrees north, was successfully inaugurated 6 June.

"This is certainly a good day for geodesy", says Gary Johnston, one of the two co-chairs of the subcommittee.

Last August the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) decided to elevate the Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF) Working Group to a permanent Subcommittee on Geodesy.

NASA and the Norwegian Mapping Authority are partnering to develop a state-of-the-art satellite laser ranging station 650 miles from the North Pole that will produce high-precision locations of orbiting satellites, help track changes in the ice sheets and improve the efficiency of marine transportation and agriculture.

IAG welcomes the participants of the IAG-IASPEI Jouint Scientific Assembly! Conference website is available.

The Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, and the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) are proud to announce the ceremonial inauguration of a new pair of Twin Telescopes for geodetic and astrometric VLBI. More than 200 international and national guests, including veterans of the first transatlantic VLBI observations in 1968 as well as the regional governors and representatives of Chalmers, participated in the festivity on Thursday, 18 May 2017.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution on a Global Geodetic Reference Frame for Sustainable Development (A/RES/69/266) on February 26, 2015. The purpose of this document is a description of the Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF), along with a brief description of its key components, as a realization of the Global Geodetic Reference System (GGRS).

The UN calls for enhanced cooperation on global geodesy. At the UN-GGIM sixth session in New York in August, the UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management endorsed the GGRF Roadmap and decided to establish a permanent Sub-Committee on Geodesy.

2nd IVS Training School on VLBI for Geodesy and Astrometry – Frank Lemoine, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center