CHAMP

CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload) is a German small satellite mission for geoscientific and atmospheric research and applications, managed by GFZ. With its highly precise, multifunctional and complementary payload elements (magnetometer, accelerometer, star sensor, GPS receiver, laser retro reflector, ion drift meter) and its orbit characteristics (near polar, low altitude, long duration) CHAMP will generate for the first time simultaneously highly precise gravity and magnetic field measurements over a 5 years period. This will allow to detect besides the spatial variations of both fields also their variability with time. The CHAMP mission had opened a new era in geopotential research and had become a significant contributor to the Decade of Geopotentials. In addition with the radio occultation measurements onboard the spacecraft and the infrastructure developed on ground, CHAMP had become a pilot mission for the pre-operational use of space-borne GPS observations for atmospheric and ionospheric research and applications in weather prediction and space weather monitoring. End of the mission of CHAMP was at September 19 2010, after ten years, two month and four days, after 58277 orbits.

CHAMP（CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload）是一项德国针对地球科学和大气研究与应用的小型卫星任务，由GFZ管理。凭借其高度精确、多功能且互补的有效载荷元件（磁力仪、加速度计、星敏感器、GPS接收器、激光反光镜、离子漂移计）及其轨道特性（近极地、低轨道、长时间运行），CHAMP将首次在五年期间内同时生成高精度的重力场和磁场测量数据。这将使得我们能够探测到两种场在空间上的变化，以及随时间的变化。CHAMP任务开启了地球位势研究的新纪元，并成为地球位势十年计划的重要贡献者。此外，借助搭载在航天器上的无线电掩星测量和地面基础设施的发展，CHAMP已成为利用空间GPS观测进行大气和电离层研究，以及在天气预报和太空天气预报监测中的预运行实验任务的先驱。CHAMP任务的结束日期为2010年9月19日，历时十年、两个月和四天，累计完成58277个轨道。