Aomen Kexue 1A (MSS 1A, MUST 1A)

Aomen Kexue 1A [MUST]

Aomen Kexue 1 (Macau Scientific Satellite 1) is a high-precision constellation of geomagnetic survey satellites designed by the Macau University of Science and Technlogy. The constellation is consisting of at least four satellites are planned to be launched in 2023-2024. The first two satellites are Aomen Kexue 1A and Aomen Kexue 1B.

It is widely accepted that the Earth's deep interior comprises a solid inner core with the geocentric radius of about 1200 km and a fluid outer core from the inner core boundary to about 3400 km, where a sufficiently strong heat flux across the outer core of iron-nickel composition maintains its liquid state while convection-driven or/and precession-driven flow generates the internal geomagnetic field via the geodynamo processes. The intensity of the core dynamo field varies from nearly 25K nano-Tesla (nT) in the South Atlantic region to nearly 65K nT in the polar regions (Siberia and Antarctica) at the Earth's surface Whereas the Earth's magnetic field has witnessed the evolution of the Earth's history, its interaction and interplay with the Earth's external magnetic environment has influenced its atmospheric processes together with its long-term change of climate. It represents an essential and a unique part of the highly complicated jigsaw puzzle of a complete picture of the whole Earth system from its outer liquid core to its external plasma space.

Satellite A (Aomen Kexue 1A, Macao Scientific Satellite 1A) for the Macau Scientific Satellite 1 mission is the first satellite with high-precision geomagnetic field measurements in China, which jointly accomplishes monitoring the space environment over the South Atlantic Anomaly Region with Satellite B. SAT_A mainly comprises subsystems of structure and mechanism, thermal controlling, attitude and orbit controlling, house-keeping, TT&C, power supply, overall circuit, digital data transmission, scientific payload, etc. It is equipped with high-precision magnetometers and high-energy particle detectors. SAT_A is designed to be operated in circular orbits with an inclination of 41°. Its altitude is ~450 km. The mass is around 550kg, and the life time is designed longer than 5 years.