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Swarm (spacecraft)

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Swarm
Artist's view of the three Swarm spacecraft
Mission typeEarth's magnetic field observation
OperatorESA
COSPAR IDSWARM A: 2013-067B
SWARM B: 2013-067A
SWARM C: 2013-067C
SATCAT no.SWARM A: 39452
SWARM B: 39451
SWARM C: 39453
WebsiteESA Swarm homepage
Mission duration4 years (planned)
11 years, 5 days (elapsed)
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerAstrium
Launch mass468 kg
Dry mass369 kg
Dimensions9.1 m × 1.5 m × 0.85 m
Power608 watts
Start of mission
Launch date22 November 2013,
12:02:29 UTC
RocketRokot/Briz-KM
Launch sitePlesetsk, Site 133/3
ContractorEurockot
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimePolar orbit
Perigee altitudeSwarm A: ≤460 kilometres (290 mi)
Swarm C: ≤460 kilometres (290 mi)
Swarm B: ≤530 kilometres (330 mi)
Apogee altitudeSwarm A: ≤460 kilometres (290 mi)
Swarm C: ≤460 kilometres (290 mi)
Swarm B: ≤530 kilometres (330 mi)
InclinationSwarm A: 87.4°
Swarm C: 87.4°
Swarm B: 88.0°
Mean motion15
Transponders
BandS Band
Frequency2 GHz
Bandwidth6Mbit/s download
4kbit/s upload
Instruments
VFM: Vector Field Magnetometer
ASM: Absolute Scalar Magnetometer
EFI: Electric Field Instrument
ACC: Accelerometer
LRR: Laser Range Reflector

Swarm is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission to study the Earth's magnetic field. High-precision and high-resolution measurements of the strength, direction and variations of the Earth's magnetic field, complemented by precise navigation, accelerometer and electric field measurements, will provide data for modelling the geomagnetic field and its interaction with other physical aspects of the Earth system. The results offer a view of the inside of the Earth from space, enabling the composition and processes of the interior to be studied in detail and increase our knowledge of atmospheric processes and ocean circulation patterns that affect climate and weather.

Overview

The overall objective of the Swarm mission is to build on the experience from the Ørsted and CHAMP missions and to provide the best ever survey of the geomagnetic field (multi-point measurements) and its temporal evolution, to gain new insights into the Earth system by improving our understanding of the Earth's interior and climate.[1]

The Swarm constellation consists of three satellites (Alpha, Bravo and Charlie) placed in two different polar orbits, two flying side by side at an altitude of 450 kilometres (280 mi) and a third at an altitude of 530 kilometres (330 mi).[1][2] The launch was delayed and rescheduled to 12:02:29 UTC on 22 November 2013, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia.[3] ESA contracted Astrium to develop and build the three orbiters,[1] while Eurockot provided the launch services.[4]

Through a Canadian-European partnership, the Canadian Space Agency's CASSIOPE satellite's e-POP instrument suite was formally integrated as the fourth satellite in the Swarm constellation in 2018, joining Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie as Echo.[5]

Scientific objectives

Primary objectives:

Secondary objectives:

Payload

The payload of the three spacecraft consists of the following instruments:[2]

Mission history

Pre-launch

The three Swarm satellites arrived at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in September 2013 to begin final testing before fuelling and incorporation with the Rokot launch vehicle.[7]

Launch

The Swarm constellation was successfully launched aboard Rokot/Briz-KM on 22 November 2013.[8]

Operations

The constellation is controlled by the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. By the beginning of May 2014, Swarm had finished its in-orbit commissioning.[9] Preliminary data indicates that the constellation is performing well as data received closely matches that from a previous German mission, CHAMP.[9]

During the commissioning stage problems were discovered with the backup Magnetometer on the "Charlie" satellite, which led to "Bravo" satellite being placed in the lone high altitude orbit (510 km) and "Charlie" joining "Alpha" in the lower tandem orbit (462 km) to improve the resilience of the constellation.[9] Commissioning data also indicated greater noise in data when a satellite was in view of the sun; the current theory is this is caused by differential heating in the satellite, but this has not been confirmed.[9] Overall, the constellation is in good health and, due to accurate orbital insertion, has significant fuel reserves remaining.[9]

Discoveries and applications

In September 2016, scientists published a study that revealed a direct link between GPS blackouts of low-Earth-orbiting satellites and "thunderstorms" in the ionosphere. During the first two years of Swarm's operation their GPS connection was broken 166 times.[10] The high-resolution observations from the satellite helped to link these outages to ionospheric thunderstorms 300–600 km in the Earth's atmosphere.[11]

In December 2016, scientists announced that, by using data from the Swarm satellites, they had discovered a new feature in the Earth's outer core, a jet-stream of rapidly moving liquid iron moving at around 50 km per year.[12][13]

In April 2017, Swarm's data was used to confirm that Steve was a previously unrecognized atmospheric phenomenon.[14]

In May 2020, Swarm revealed that Earth's magnetic field is gradually weakening in an area stretching from Africa to South America, which might cause technical disturbances in satellites orbiting Earth.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c ESA. "SWARM". eoPortal. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  2. ^ a b SWARM Technical Annex, 2004
  3. ^ "Satellites packed like sardines". ESA. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  4. ^ Eurockot to launch two ESA Earth observation missions, 9 April 2010
  5. ^ "Swarm trio becomes a quartet". ESA. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  6. ^ Fratter, Isabelle; Léger, Jean-Michel; Bertrand, François; Jager, Thomas; Hulot, Gauthier; Brocco, Laura; Vigneron, Pierre (April 2016). "Swarm Absolute Scalar Magnetometers first in-orbit results". Acta Astronautica. 121: 76–87. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2015.12.025.
  7. ^ "Preparing to Launch Swarm". ESA. 19 September 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  8. ^ Amos, Jonathan (22 November 2013). "Esa's satellite Swarm launch to map Earth's magnetism". BBC News.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Swarm 'delivers on magnetic promise'". BBC. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Swarm reveals why satellites lose track". ESA. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Strange blackouts hits Space satellites near Equator". DTU Space. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  12. ^ Amos, Jonathan (19 December 2016). "Iron 'jet stream' detected in Earth's outer core". BBC. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  13. ^ Livermore, Philip W.; Hollerbach, Rainer; Finlay, Christopher C. (19 December 2016). "An accelerating high-latitude jet in Earth's core". Nature. 10: 62–68. Bibcode:2017NatGe..10...62L. doi:10.1038/ngeo2859.
  14. ^ McRae, Mike (24 April 2017). "Introducing Steve - a Newly Discovered Astronomical Phenomenon". ScienceAlert.
  15. ^ "Swarm probes weakening of Earth's magnetic field". ESA. 20 May 2020.
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