Below 600 km, drag is the largest source of uncertainty for satellite and debris orbit prediction. With an increasing number of satellites in low-Earth orbit, accurate observations of the atmospheric mass density are required to improve models of the thermosphere with applications in satellite lifetime predictions, collision risk assessment and avoidance. We are developing a compact cold atom accelerometer for atmospheric density missions, to be launched in mid to late 2020s. These quantum sensors are based on atom interferometry. A cold atom sample is generated using the combination of an atom-chip and resonant laser beams. The cold atom cloud is then diffracted using a set of three laser pulses, generating a matter-wave interferometer. The phase-shift at the output of the interferometer is proportional to the acceleration of the free falling atoms with respect to the satellite, which is converted to density observations. Teledyne e2v is producing a space suitable accelerometer physics package that can be embedded in small satellites such as a 16U cubesat or a SkimSat. It includes an atom-chip for producing magnetic fields local to the atoms in vacuum developed by RAL Space. It will address some of the engineering challenges associated with the launch and the required low SWAP and will be integrated into a breadboard system capable of acceleration measurement in order to test interferometry schemes suitable for measurements in micro-gravity. Atmospheric drag measurement can be the world’s first cold atom Earth observation mission and be a pathfinder for a future large-scale cold atom gravity mission.
Over the last six years, Teledyne e2v has heavily invested in transforming laboratory based quantum technologies into commercial products utilising partnerships with other industrial companies, universities and national institutes. Beyond the technical challenge of building these high performance instruments, the transition from a laboratory experiment to a sustainable and successful product can only be achieved with a reliable supply-chain, reproducible processes and a good awareness of the potential markets. This talk will highlight the experiences gained during this time using the examples of the Teledyne e2v atomic clocks and gravity sensors projects that have been funded via the UK government Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) program.
Inertial sensing based on cold atom technologies has been proposed as a possible answer to the limited accuracy of current inertial navigation systems. Cold atom technologies offer measurements of inertial quantities that have unprecedented precision and accuracy. However, sensor accuracy is only one of the factors that limit the performance of purely inertial navigation systems. This paper reviews the possible benefits that cold atom quantum sensing may offer in navigation, and discusses a specific example where cold atom gravity gradiometers can be used to augment a standard inertial navigation system through gravitational map-matching.
During the past decades, atom interferometry experiments were developed for various applications like precision measurement of fundamental constants [1, 2], gravimetry [3], gradiometry [4] or inertial sensing [5, 6].
B. Canuel, S. Pelisson, L. Amand, A. Bertoldi, E. Cormier, B. Fang, S. Gaffet, R. Geiger, J. Harms, D. Holleville, A. Landragin, G. Lefèvre, J. Lhermite, N. Mielec, M. Prevedelli, I. Riou, P. Bouyer
The Matter-Wave laser Interferometer Gravitation Antenna, MIGA, will be a hybrid instrument composed of a network of atom interferometers horizontally aligned and interrogated by the resonant field of an optical cavity. This detector will provide measurements of sub Hertz variations of the gravitational strain tensor. MIGA will bring new methods for geophysics for the characterization of spatial and temporal variations of the local gravity field and will also be a demonstrator for future low frequency Gravitational Wave (GW) detections. MIGA will enable a better understanding of the coupling at low frequency between these different signals. The detector will be installed underground in Rustrel (FR), at the “Laboratoire Souterrain Bas Bruit” (LSBB), a facility with exceptionally low environmental noise and located far away from major sources of anthropogenic disturbances. We give in this paper an overview of the operating mode and status of the instrument before detailing simulations of the gravitational background noise at the MIGA installation site.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.