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STE-QUEST mission and system design

Overview after completion of Phase-A

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Abstract

STE-QUEST is a fundamental science mission which is considered for launch within the Cosmic Vision programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). Its main scientific objectives relate to probing various aspects of Einstein’s theory of general relativity by measuring the gravitational red-shift of the earth, the moon and the sun as well as testing the weak equivalence principle to unprecedented accuracy. In order to perform the measurements, the system features a spacecraft equipped with two complex instruments, an atomic clock and an atom interferometer, a ground-segment encompassing several ground-terminals collocated with the best available ground atomic clocks, and clock comparison between space and ground via microwave and optical links. The baseline orbit is highly eccentric and exhibits strong variations of incident solar flux, which poses challenges for thermal and power subsystems in addition to the difficulties encountered by precise-orbit-determination at high altitudes. The mission assessment and definition phase (Phase-A) has recently been completed and this paper gives a concise overview over some system level results.

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Acknowledgments

The work underlying this paper was performed during the mission assessment and definition activities (Phase 0/A) for the European Space Agency (ESA) under contract number 4000105368/12/NL/HB. The authors gratefully acknowledge fruitful discussions and inputs from the ESA study team members, in particular Martin Gehler (study manager), Luigi Cacciapuoti (project scientist), Robin Biesbroek (system engineer), Astrid Heske, (payload manager), Florian Renk (mission analyst), Pierre Waller, (atomic clock support), and Eric Wille (atom interferometer support). We also thank the Astrium team members for their contributions to the study, in particular Felix Beck, Marcel Berger, Christopher Chetwood, Albert Falke, Jens-Oliver Fischer, Jean-Jacques Floch, Sören Hennecke, Fabian Hufgard, Günter Hummel, Christian Jentsch, Andreas Karl, Johannes Kehrer, Arnd Kolkmeier, Michael G. Lang, Johannes Loehr, Marc Maschmann, Mark Millinger, Dirk Papendorf, Raphael Naire, Tanja Nemetzade, Bernhard Specht, Francis Soualle and Michael Williams. The authors are grateful for important contributions from our project partners Mathias Lezius (Menlo Systems), Wolfgang Schäfer, Thorsten Feldmann (TimeTech), and Sven Schäff (Astos Solutions). Finally, we are indebted to Rüdiger Gerndt and Ulrich Johann (Astrium) for regular support and many useful discussions.

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  1. EADS Astrium, 88039, Friedrichshafen, Germany

    Gerald Hechenblaikner, Marc-Peter Hess, Marianna Vitelli & Jan Beck

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  1. Gerald Hechenblaikner
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Correspondence to Gerald Hechenblaikner.

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Hechenblaikner, G., Hess, MP., Vitelli, M. et al. STE-QUEST mission and system design. Exp Astron 37, 481–501 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-014-9373-6

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