GEOSTEP: A gravitation experiment in Earth-orbiting satellite to test the Equivalence Principle

Abstract

Testing the Equivalence Principle has been recognized by the scientific community as a short-term prime objective for fundamental physics in space. In 1994, a Phase 0/A study of the GEOSTEP mission has been initiated by CNES in order to design a space experiment to test the Equivalence Principle to an accuracy of 10 −17, with the constraint to be compatible with the small versatile platform PROTEUS under study. The GEOSTEP payload comprises a set of four differential accelerometers placed at cryogenic temperature on board a drag-free, 3-axis stabilized satellite in low-Earth orbit. Each accelerometer contains a pair of test masses A-A, A-B, A-C, B-C (inner mass - outer mass) made of three different materials A, B, C with decreasing densities. The accelerometer concept is the fully electrostatic levitation and read-out device proposed by ONERA, called SAGE (Space Accelerometer for Gravitation Experiment). The drag-free and attitude control system (DFACS) is monitored by the common-mode data of the accelerometers along their three axes, while the possible violation signal is detected by the differential-mode data along the longitudinal sensitive axis. The cryostat is a single chamber supercritical Helium dewar designed by CEA. Helium boiling off from the dewar feeds a set of proportional gas thrusters performing the DFACS. Error analysis and data processing preparation is managed by OCA/CERGA. The satellite will be on a 6 am - 6 pm near-polar, near-circular, Sun-synchronous orbit, at an altitude of 600 to 900 km, depending on the atmospheric density at the time of launch. GEOSTEP could be launched in 2002; the nominal mission duration is at least four months.