# Shuttle Laser Altimeter 2 (SLA-02)
*sensor . products*

Second Shuttle Laser Altimeter experiment. Flew on STS-85 (Space Shuttle Discovery, August 1997). 1064 nm lidar demonstrating spaceborne laser altimetry for vegetation and terrain mapping.

## Specifications
- **product status**: retired
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **manufacturer**: nasa
- **sensor**: {"instrument_family":"lidar","measurement_principle":"active","wavelength_nm":1064,"return_type":"full-waveform","notes":"SLA-02 (Shuttle Laser Altimeter 2) flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-85, August 1997. Refined follow-on to SLA-01; demonstrated spaceborne lidar detection of vegetation canopy structure. Built by NASA GSFC."}
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-05
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: unclaimed
- **provider**: nasa
- **attributes**: {"kind":"sensor","product_status":"retired","deployment_context":"orbital","manufacturer":"nasa","description":"Second Shuttle Laser Altimeter experiment. Flew on STS-85 (Space Shuttle Discovery, August 1997). 1064 nm lidar demonstrating spaceborne laser altimetry for vegetation and terrain mapping.","sensor":"{\"instrument_family\":\"lidar\",\"measurement_principle\":\"active\",\"wavelength_nm\":1064,\"return_type\":\"full-waveform\",\"notes\":\"SLA-02 (Shuttle Laser Altimeter 2) flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-85, August 1997. Refined follow-on to SLA-01; demonstrated spaceborne lidar detection of vegetation canopy structure. Built by NASA GSFC.\"}"}
- **technology**: lidar
- **relevance**: ancillary

## Editorial
The Shuttle Laser Altimeter 2 (SLA-02) is a spaceborne lidar instrument built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. It flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS-85 in August 1997, operating at 1064 nm (Nd:YAG) and recording full-waveform returns. SLA-02 was the second flight of the Shuttle Laser Altimeter series, following SLA-01, and demonstrated spaceborne laser ranging over vegetation canopy and terrain.[^eoportal-sts85][^ntrs-1996-sla][^gsfc-sla02-main][^gsfc-sla02-results]

STS-85 operated at an average orbital altitude of approximately 278 km with 51.6-degree inclination.[^eoportal-sts85] The instrument recorded full-waveform lidar returns used to characterise ground elevation and canopy height. SLA-02 has not flown since STS-85 concluded in August 1997.

## Compositional position
- Shuttle Laser Altimeter 2 (SLA-02) --[related]--> sla-01 (products)
- sts-85 (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> Shuttle Laser Altimeter 2 (SLA-02)

## Sources
- [eoportal-sts85] | Shuttle Flight STS-85 - eoPortal Directory | https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/shuttle-flight-sts-85 | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-05
- [ntrs-1996-sla] | Shuttle Laser Altimeter (SLA): A pathfinder for space-based laser altimetry and lidar, NTRS 19960003752 | https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19960003752 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-05
- [gsfc-sla02-results] | SLA-02 Shuttle Laser Altimeter II First Science Results - NASA GSFC | https://core2.gsfc.nasa.gov/research/laser/sla02/results.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-05
- [gsfc-sla02-main] | SLA-02 Shuttle Laser Altimeter II - NASA GSFC | https://core2.gsfc.nasa.gov/sla/sla02/ | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-05

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/sla-02
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)