Since Kepler, Newton and Huygens in the seventeenth century, geodesy has been concerned with determining the figure, orientation and gravitational field of the Earth. With the beginning of the space age in 1957, a new branch of geodesy was created, satellite geodesy. Only with satellites did geodesy become truly global. Oceans were no longer obstacles and the Earth as a whole could be observed and measured in consistent series of measurements. Of particular interest is the determination of the spatial structures and finally the temporal changes of the Earth's gravitational field. The knowledge of the gravitational field represents the natural bridge to the study of the physics of the Earth's interior, the circulation of our oceans and, more recently, the climate. Today, key findings on climate change are derived from the temporal changes in the gravitational field: on ice mass loss in Greenland and Antarctica, sea level rise and generally on changes in the global water cycle. This has only become possible with dedicated gravity satellite missions opening a method known as satellite gravimetry. In the first forty years of space age, satellite gravimetry was based on the analysis of the orbital motion of satellites. Due to the uneven distribution of observatories over the globe, the initially inaccurate measuring methods and the inadequacies of the evaluation models, the reconstruction of global models of the Earth's gravitational field was a great challenge. The transition from passive satellites for gravity field determination to satellites equipped with special sensor technology, which was initiated in the last decade of the twentieth century, brought decisive progress. In the chronological sequence of the launch of such new satellites, the history, mission objectives and measuring principles of the missions CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE flown since 2000 are outlined and essential scientific results of the individual missions are highlighted. The special features of the GRACE Follow-On Mission, which was launched in 2018, and the plans for a next generation of gravity field missions are also discussed.

自 17 世纪的开普勒、牛顿和惠更斯以来，大地测量学一直关注确定地球的形状、方向和引力场。随着 1957 年太空时代的开始，大地测量学的一个新分支诞生了，卫星大地测量学。只有有了卫星，大地测量才真正成为全球性的。海洋不再是障碍物，整个地球都可以通过一系列一致的测量来观察和测量。特别感兴趣的是空间结构的确定，最后是地球引力场的时间变化。引力场知识是研究地球内部物理、海洋循环以及最近的气候的天然桥梁。今天，关于气候变化的主要发现来自引力场的时间变化：格陵兰和南极洲的冰质量损失、海平面上升以及全球水循环的变化。只有通过专门的重力卫星任务开启一种称为卫星重力测量的方法，这才有可能实现。在太空时代的前四十年，卫星重力测量是基于对卫星轨道运动的分析。由于全球观测站分布不均、最初的测量方法不准确以及评价模型的不完善，地球引力场全球模型的重建是一项巨大的挑战。从用于重力场测定的无源卫星过渡到配备特殊传感器技术的卫星，20 世纪最后十年发起，带来了决定性的进展。在这些新卫星发射的时间顺序中，概述了自 2000 年以来执行的 CHAMP、GRACE 和 GOCE 任务的历史、任务目标和测量原理，并强调了各个任务的重要科学成果。还讨论了 2018 年启动的 GRACE 后续任务的特殊功能，以及下一代重力场任务的计划。