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Accueil > A propos du LPP > Communication > Actualités archivées > 2020 > The Cluster mission turns 20 years

The Cluster mission turns 20 years

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July 16, 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the first pair of this constellation of 4 satellites. Carried out by a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Baikonur and followed with anxiety by a whole scientific community, the placement of satellites 2 and 3 in orbit was successful, a step that the 4 original satellites never reached, destroyed on June 6, 1996, a few seconds after their takeoff, in the explosion of their Ariane 5 rocket. The launch, on August 9, of the second pair - satellites 1 and 4-, would finally mark the effective start of the mission. A retrospectively eventful second launch, because an error in filling the tanks of the Soyuz rocket resulted in a lack of 100 m / s in the momentum communicated by its first 3 stages. Fortunately, this defect was going to be partially compensated by the upper stage Fregat, but the orbit reached was still 1000 km less than the target orbit. The satellites ample maneuvering capabilities will make it easy to reach the planned final orbit, marking the start of the first constellation aimed at the 3D study of small-scale structures of the Earth’s magnetosphere.

Tango (SC4) se sépare de Rumba (SC1) au dessus du Nil et de la Méditerranée

Starting in February 2001, the scientific mission was planned to last 2 years, a period that the scientists hoped to continue for two or 3 more years. In fact, the mission will span more than two decades. The changes in orbits will lead this powerful tool to tackle unthinkable studies during the initial definition of the mission. The ingenuity of the ESOC teams in charge of operations will make it possible to use the satellite resources still available to vary the orbit and the shape of the constellation, to modify the inter-satellite distances (up to less than 3 km), operate without operational batteries and with a minimum of propellant.

Evolution de la distance de séparation entre les satellites. La période 2001-2005 correspond à la converture de la mission nominale.

Of course, satellites and instruments have aged, and like all old people, they can occasionally suffer from some ailments. But the quality and quantity of data (greater than that at the start of the mission) are still very high, ensuring studies of regions and mechanisms that the project designers could not dream of.

To celebrate this 20th anniversary and recall the main stages and major discoveries of this mission, a Workshop, bringing together the actors of this success, was scheduled for September 2020 at ESOC. It could not be maintained following the travel restrictions imposed by the CoVid-19 pandemic. It is simply postponed for a year, to September 2021.

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CNRS Ecole Polytechnique Sorbonne Université Université Paris-Saclay Observatoire de Paris
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Exploitant du site : Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Ecole Polytechnique route de Saclay F-91128 PALAISEAU CEDEX
Hébergeur : Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Ecole Polytechnique route de Saclay F-91128 PALAISEAU CEDEX
Directeur de la publication : Anne Bourdon (Directrice)

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