The laser ranging interferometer (LRI) aboard the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on (GRACE-FO) platform uses a laser to measure the distance between the twin satellites that comprise the GRACE-FO platform. By analyzing distance measurements between the two satellites, GRACE data can be used to estimate Earth's gravity field. The GRACE-FO satellites are in part designed to test and demonstrate the LRI, which has the potential to improve the precision of separation distance measurements on future GRACE satellites by a factor of up to 20.

GRACE-FO LRI data are for technology demonstration purposes only and will not be the platform's data of record for use by the science community.