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Abstract:
TianQin-1 satellite, which is the first technology demonstration satellite for the Chinese space-borne gravitational wave detector–TianQin project, tested the technologies of inertial sensing, micro-Newton propulsion, drag-free control, and laser interferometry. The TianQin-1 satellite is equipped with a high-precision inertial sensor with a designed resolution of 5×10-12 m/s2/Hz1/2 at 0.1 Hz. In-orbit results show a successful validation of drag-free control and the residual acceleration of TianQin-1 satellite has been suppressed to 5×10−11 m/s2/Hz1/2 at 10 mHz versus 2×10−9 m/s2/Hz1/2 thruster noise. Since the inertial sensor data reveals the non-gravitational forces acting on the satellite with high accuracy, in-orbit acceleration measurements can be used for the correction of empirical non-gravitational models.
