Double star

Double Star 1 & 2
Type:	Magnetospheres - research satellite
Country:	Europe  People's Republic of China
Operator:	ESA CNSA
COSPAR-ID :	1: 2003-061A 2: 2004-029A
Mission dates
Dimensions:	660 kg
Begin:	1: 12/29/2003 2: 7/25/2004, 07:05 UTC
Starting place:	1: Xichang 2: Taiyuan
Launcher:	Long March 2 C
Status:	1: burned up 2: in orbit, out of order
Orbit data
Rotation time :	2: 624.2 min
Orbit inclination :	1: 28.5 ° 2: 87.4 °
Apogee height :	1: 66,970 km 2: 35,432.1 km
Perigee height :	1: 500 km 2: 216.2 km

Double Star ( Chinese  地球 空間 雙星 探測 計劃  /  地球 空间 双星 探测 计划 , Pinyin Dìqiú Kōngjiān Shuāngxīng Tàncè Jìhuà , 双星 计划 for short) describes a Chinese space mission with the participation of the European Space Agency ESA to research the earth's magnetic field and its interaction with the solar wind . The Chinese name of the satellites themselves is Tan Ce ( 探测 , Tàncè  - "probe").

The mission consists of two satellites. TC-1 (Tan Ce 1) was brought into an elliptical orbit ( perigee 550 km, apogee 66,970 km above the earth's surface) with an inclination of 28.5 ° from the Xichang spaceport on December 29, 2003 , TC-2 was launched on December 25 , 2003 . Brought into a polar elliptical orbit (perigee 700 km, apogee 39,000 km) from the Taiyuan spaceport in July 2004 . Both satellites were launched with a Langer Marsch 2C rocket. On October 14, 2007, the TC-1 was switched off after it had reached its intended service life and then burned up in the earth's atmosphere.

The Double Star satellites had eight Chinese instruments on board, built at the Center for Space Science and Applied Research , because the English name Center for Space Science and Applied Research often abbreviated "CSSAR". Eight instruments come from ESA, seven of which are duplicates of instruments from the cluster satellites , the eighth newly developed together with CSSAR. With their help, it was possible to detect super-hot gas bubbles on the shock front between the earth's magnetic field and solar wind, as well as their formation, development and disappearance. Here are the payloads of both satellites:

TC-1 (equatorial orbit)	TC-2 (polar orbit)
Active potential regulator	Imaging detector for neutral atoms
Fluxgate magnetometer	Fluxgate magnetometer
Electron distribution measuring device	Electron distribution measuring device
Hot ion analyzer	Low energy ion detector
Magnetic field fluctuation analyzer	Detector for low frequency electromagnetic waves
High energy electron detector	High energy electron detector
High energy proton detector	High energy proton detector
Heavy ion detector	Heavy ion detector

Web links

• ESA: Double Star overview ( Memento from November 5, 2003 in the Internet Archive )
• ESA: Double Star: A Sino-European Research Project

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Orbit data according to DOUBLESTAR (TC-2). N2YO, December 22, 2018, accessed December 22, 2018 . 
2. ↑ Gunter Krebs: TC 1, 2 / Double Star 1, 2. Gunter's Space Page, December 22, 2018, accessed on December 22, 2018 (English). 
3. ↑ 双星 计划. In: nssc.cas.cn. Retrieved June 10, 2020 (Chinese). 
4. ^ Double Star Instruments. In: sci.esa.int. September 1, 2019, accessed June 10, 2020 .