  We reexamine non-Einsteinian effects observable in the orbital motion of
low-orbit artificial Earth satellites. The motivations for doing so are
twofold: (i) recent theoretical studies suggest that the correct theory of
gravity might contain a scalar contribution which has been reduced to a small
value by the effect of the cosmological expansion; (ii) presently developed
space technologies should soon give access to a new generation of satellites
endowed with drag-free systems and tracked in three dimensions at the
centimeter level. Our analysis suggests that such data could measure two
independent combinations of the Eddington parameters (beta - 1) and (gamma - 1)
at the 10^-4 level and probe the time variability of Newton's "constant" at the
d(ln G)/dt ~ 10^-13 yr^-1 level. These tests would provide well-needed
complements to the results of the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment, and of the
presently planned experiments aiming at measuring (gamma -1). In view of the
strong demands they make on the level of non- gravitational perturbations,
these tests might require a dedicated mission consisting of an optimized
passive drag-free satellite.
