Published September 17, 2020 | Version v1
Journal article

The first round result from the TianQin-1 satellite

  • 1. TianQin Research Center for Gravitational Physics and School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University (Zhuhai Campus), Zhuhai 519082 (China)
  • 2. Centre for Gravitational Experiments, School of Physics, MOE Key Laboratory of Fundamental Physical Quantities Measurement and Hubei Key Laboratory of Gravitation and Quantum Physics, PGMF, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)
  • 3. Beijing Institute of Control Engineering, Beijing 100094 (China)
  • 4. DFH Satellite Co., Ltd., Beijing 100094 (China)

Description

The TianQin-1 satellite (TQ-1), which is the first technology demonstration satellite for the TianQin project, was launched on 20 December 2019. The first round of experiment had been carried out from 21 December 2019 until 1 April 2020. The residual acceleration of the satellite is found to be about 1 × 10−10 m/s2/Hz1/2 at 0.1 Hz and about 5 × 10−11 m/s2/Hz1/2 at 0.05 Hz, measured by an inertial sensor with a sensitivity of 5 × 10−12 m/s2/Hz1/2 at 0.1 Hz. The micro-Newton thrusters has demonstrated a thrust resolution of 0.1  μN and a thrust noise of 0.3  μN/Hz1/2 at 0.1 Hz. The residual noise of the satellite with drag-free control is 3 × 10−9 m/s2/Hz1/2 at 0.1 Hz. The noise level of the optical readout system is about 30 pm/Hz1/2 at 0.1 Hz. The temperature stability at temperature monitoring position is controlled to be about ±3 mK per orbit, and the mismatch between the center-of-mass of the satellite and that of the test mass is measured with a precision of better than 0.1 mm. (paper)

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/aba66a

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Classical and Quantum Gravity
Journal Volume
37
Journal Issue
18
Journal Page Range
[14 p.]
ISSN
0264-9381
CODEN
CQGRDG

INIS

Country of Publication
United Kingdom
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
52060380
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
ACCELERATION; ACCURACY; CENTER-OF-MASS SYSTEM; NOISE; ORBITS; READOUT SYSTEMS; RESOLUTION; SATELLITES; SENSITIVITY; SENSORS; STABILITY; TEMPERATURE MONITORING; THRUSTERS
Descriptors DEC
MONITORING