MICROSCOPE
The Micro-Satellite à traînée Compensée pour l'Observation du Principe d'Equivalence (Micro-Satellite with Compensated Drag for Observing the Principle of Equivalence, MICROSCOPE) is a 300-kilogram (660 lb) class minisatellite operated by CNES to test the universality of free fall (the equivalence principle) with a precision to the order of 10−15, 100 times more precise than can be achieved on Earth. It was launched on 25 April 2016 alongside Sentinel-1B and other small satellites, and was decommissioned around 18 October 2018 after completion of its science objectives. The final report was published in 2022.
| Mission type | Physics | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | CNES | ||||||||
| COSPAR ID | 2016-025B | ||||||||
| SATCAT no. | 41457 | ||||||||
| Website | https://microscope.cnes.fr/en/ | ||||||||
| Mission duration | Planned: 2 years Final: 2 years, 5 months, 22 days | ||||||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||
| Bus | Myriade | ||||||||
| Manufacturer | CNES · Airbus | ||||||||
| Launch mass | 330 kg (728 lb) | ||||||||
| Dimensions | 138 × 104 × 158 cm (54 × 41 × 62 in) | ||||||||
| Power | 140 watts | ||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||
| Launch date | 25 April 2016, 21:02:13 UTC | ||||||||
| Rocket | Soyuz ST-A (VS-14) | ||||||||
| Launch site | Guiana Space Centre ELS | ||||||||
| Contractor | Arianespace | ||||||||
| Entered service | 2 May 2016 | ||||||||
| End of mission | |||||||||
| Disposal | Decommissioned | ||||||||
| Deactivated | c. 18 October 2018 | ||||||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||||||
| Reference system | Geocentric | ||||||||
| Regime | Low Earth | ||||||||
| Semi-major axis | 7,090.9 km (4,406.1 mi) | ||||||||
| Eccentricity | 0.000167 | ||||||||
| Perigee altitude | 711.6 km (442.2 mi) | ||||||||
| Apogee altitude | 713.9 km (443.6 mi) | ||||||||
| Inclination | 98.23° | ||||||||
| Period | 99.03 minutes | ||||||||
| Epoch | 5 December 2016, 21:17:20 UTC | ||||||||
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