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Stella was a 48 kg French satellite that was launched along with SPOT 3. It was a dense sphere of uranium alloy with 60 laser reflectors on the surface. Reflected laser beams enabled accurate geodetic measurements for the determination, with an accuracy of 1 cm, of the geoid, of oceanic and terrestrial tides, and of tectonic movements. It joined its still operational twin, Starlette, that was launched in 1975.
[Summary provided by NASA0
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