This paper reports on results obtained from the GEOSAT altimeter over the Ekströmisen ice shelf, adjacent to the eastern margin of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The Ekströmisen ice shelf, on which the German wintering station Neumayer (formerly Georg‐von‐Neumayer) is established, is the main working area of German polar research activities. Measurements carried out by the GEOSAT altimeter between 1987 and 1989 were used in this study in order to determine ice shelf heights for mapping the Ekströmisen ice shelf. The processing and analysis of altimeter measurements over the Ekströmisen ice shelf indicate good height determination over flat ice sheets, with an accuracy of less than ±1 m depending on the characteristics of the ice surface.