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arXiv · 2012.06479

MICROSCOPE Satellite and its Drag-Free and Attitude Control System

Alain Robert·Valerio Cipolla·Pascal Prieur·Pierre Touboul·Gilles Métris·Manuel Rodrigues·Yves André·Joel Bergé·Damien Boulanger·Ratana Chhun·Bruno Christophe·Pierre-Yves Guidotti·Emilie Hardy·Vincent Lebat·Thomas Lienart·Françoise Liorzou·Benjamin Pouilloux
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Abstract

This paper focus on the description of the design and performance of the MICROSCOPE satellite and its Drag-Free and Attitude Control System (DFACS). The satellite is derived from CNES' Myriade platform family, albeit with significant upgrades dictated by the unprecedented MICROSCOPE's mission requirements. The 300kg drag-free microsatellite has completed its 2-year flight with higher-than-expected performances. Its passive thermal concept allowed for variations smaller than 1 $\mu$K at the measurement frequency $f_{\rm{EP}}$. The propulsion system provided a 6 axis continuous and very low noise thrust from zero to some hundreds of micronewtons. Finally, the performance of its DFACS (aimed at compensating the disturbing forces and torques applied to the satellite) is the finest ever achieved in low Earth orbit, with residual accelerations along the three axes are lower than $10^{-12} {\rm m/s}^2$ at $f_{\rm{EP}}$ over 8 days.

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Alain Robert, Valerio Cipolla, Pascal Prieur, Pierre Touboul, Gilles Métris, Manuel Rodrigues, Yves André, Joel Bergé, Damien Boulanger, Ratana Chhun, Bruno Christophe, Pierre-Yves Guidotti, Emilie Hardy, Vincent Lebat, Thomas Lienart, Françoise Liorzou, Benjamin Pouilloux. 2020-12-11. MICROSCOPE Satellite and its Drag-Free and Attitude Control System. https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.06479

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