616 Stud. Geophys. Geod., 61 (2017), 616638, DOI: 10.1007/s11200-015-1106-4 © 2017 Inst. Geophys. CAS, Prague Development of a terrestrial reference frame in the Russian Federation ELENA MAZUROVA 1 , SERGEI KOPEIKIN 1,2 AND ALEKSANDR KARPIK 1 1 Siberian State University of Geosystems and Technologies, Plakhotny Street 10, 630108 Novosibirsk, Russia (e_mazurova@mail.ru, rector@ssga.ru) 2 Department of Physics and Astronomy, 322 Physics Bldg., University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA (kopeikins@missouri.edu) Received: January 4, 2016; Revised: May 27, 2016; Accepted: November 15, 2016 ABSTRACT The present article is written in response to the recent call of the United Nations for the enhanced international cooperation of different countries on global geodesy to build the Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF). It reviews historical landmarks in the development of the State Geodetic Reference Frame on the territory of Russia over the last two centuries. It discusses major steps in creating the Russian terrestrial reference frame by both the ground-based and space geodesy methods relying upon the satellite observation techniques. Currently the State Geodetic Reference Frame undergoes a radical improvement in order to effectively implement the potential of modern satellite technologies through the use of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). We outline the current status of the National Geodetic Network in Russia, its hierarchical structure and accuracy. We pay a particular attention to the high-precision State Geodetic Coordinate System (GSK-2011), created simultaneously along with the global reference-ellipsoid, and designed for various types of users to conduct the land surveying and mapping in Russia. We also present the geocentric coordinate system (PZ-90.11) used for navigating space missions, solving various problems of global geodesy, and supporting the continuous operation of GLONASS. K e y w o r d s : GSK-2011, PZ-90.11, modern Russian terrestrial reference frame 1. INTRODUCTION The establishment of the State Geodetic Reference Frame (SGRF) on the territory of Russia has a long and rich history that started more than two hundred years ago. Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area. For geodesists who started the geodetic survey of the Russian Empire it was evident from the very beginning that the extremely large size of the country requires a novel approach to building a terrestrial reference frame of sufficient density and accuracy. The methods of land survey used in Europe and USA were straightforward but could not be extrapolated onto Russia as they would require enormous time to build the geodetic network in such a huge country.