Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) was a German
satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
launched July 15, 2000 from
Plesetsk, Russia and was used for
atmospheric and
ionospheric
The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...
research, as well as other
geoscientific applications, such as
GPS radio occultation,
gravity field determination, and studying the Earth's magnetic field.
CHAMP was managed by
GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ)
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
.
The spacecraft is the first application of Astrium's "Flexbus" platform;
GRACE was the second. A heavily modified version flew as the
GOCE mission.
Spacecraft instruments
An onboard BlackJack
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...
(GPS) Flight Receiver, provided by
JPL, enables the use of
satellite to satellite tracking for vehicle positioning. To remove the effect of external, non-gravitational forces (e.g.,
atmospheric drag
In fluid dynamics, drag, sometimes referred to as fluid resistance, is a force acting opposite to the direction of motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding fluid. This can exist between two fluid layers, two solid surfaces, or b ...
,
solar radiation pressure) the satellite features an internal 3-axis STAR
accelerometer
An accelerometer is a device that measures the proper acceleration of an object. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change (mathematics), rate of change of velocity) of the object relative to an observer who is in free fall (tha ...
. Independent verification of orbital position is enabled by a passive
Laser Retro Reflector (LRR), which also enables calibration of the principal positioning via
laser ranging. Spacecraft attitude is measured using Advanced Stellar Compass (ASC)
star tracker supplied by
Technical University of Denmark and
attitude control is provided by three
magnetorquers and
cold gas thruster
A cold gas thruster (or a cold gas propulsion system) is a type of rocket engine which uses the expansion of a (typically inert) pressurized gas to generate thrust. As opposed to traditional rocket engines, a cold gas thruster does not house any co ...
s.
Mounted on the boom, the satellite has an Magnetometer Instrument Assembly System (MIAS) for measurement of the Earth's magnetic field. The vehicle can measure the Earth's electric field parallel to the magnetic field with the Digital Ion Drift Meter (DIDM).
End of mission
CHAMP completed its mission and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on 19 September 2010 after 10 years (design life: five years).
The mission was judged as being successful by the involved scientists, in particular as the original 5 year design life was significantly extended.
References
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
Spacecraft launched in 2000
Satellites of Germany
Spacecraft which reentered in 2010
Laser ranging satellites
Atmospheric sounding satellites
Geospace monitoring satellites
Gravimetry satellites