BackForwardInstrument:  MicroSTAR 

Instrument details
Acronym MicroSTAR
Full name MicroSTAR 3 axis accelerometer
Purpose Solid Earth - Observation of the Earth’s gravity field along the orbit
Short description 3 axis accelerometer to meet the top-level relative non-gravitational acceleration measurement error requirement along 3 ultra sensitive axis
Background Development from the SuperSTAR accelerometer
Scanning Technique N/A
Resolution N/A
Coverage / Cycle N/A
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period: 2028 to 2040
Last update: 2023-10-30
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Other payload component
  • Gravity sensing system
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • Gravimetry missions
  • Gravitometry sensing system
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Gravity field
  • Gravity gradients
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Geoid3 - highHighly indirect.Accelerometer to reconstruct the Earth's gravity field, hence the geoid
Gravity field*2 - very highAssimilation in gravity model needed.Accelerometer to reconstruct the Earth's gravity field
Gravity gradients*3 - highAssimilation in gravity model needed.Accelerometer/gradiometer to reconstruct the Earth's gravity field
Atmospheric density5 - marginalNo specific limitation.Accelerometer/gradiometer. Atmospheric density measured as one of the perturbations of accelerometer records due to atmospheric drag