Successful premiere for a new satellite concept that makes cost-effective missions possible. On Saturday, July 15, 2000, at 14:00 (CET), a Cosmos booster launched the German research satellite Champ from the Russian launch site Plesetsk, 800 kilometers north of Moscow. The research satellite is based on the innovative satellite concept “Flexbus” which was developed by Astrium in Friedrichshafen. The Astrium space company is now hoping for new projects in this market segment.
In view of shrinking budgets, reliable satellites, which enable affordable missions in the areas of science, Earth observation and climate research, are in greater and greater demand. The Flexbus concept allowed the successful entry of Astrium into the area of development and manufacture of “low cost” satellites. Important contracts were won on the basis of Flexbus.
Following the launch of the Champ satellites, the two spacecraft for the Grace gravimetry mission will be prepared for NASA. Additionally, keen interest has been voiced worldwide in using the Flexbus concept, with its intelligent and affordable component solutions, for commercial missions. Compared to a conventional design, the Flexbus concept of Champ resulted in a cost reduction by more than half.
The use of a mature basic architecture for the spacecraft bus and the combination of commercial, proven components with mission-specific, new components make Flexbus a satellite “of building blocks” which optimally adapts to individual mission and payload requirements. For this reason, satellites developed and built on the basis of Flexbus can be placed into orbit already two to three years after receipt of order. In addition to development and testing for a mission, this concept also facilitates satellite operation.
Champ (Challenging Minisatellite Payload) will provide data on the composition, structure and dynamics of the solid planet, its oceans and atmosphere as well as the surrounding envelope of charged particles and magnetic fields. On its orbital track, Champ will orbit the Earth every 93 minutes. The route will be exactly over the poles. Similar to a globe on an axis, the Earth will rotate below its orbit, thus enabling a precise measurement.
One of the mission objectives is to further develop the existing gravity model of the Earth. This enables exact measurements of the mass changes on the Earth’s surface — for instance, by assumed polar ice melting. Exact magnetic field measurement also gives an insight into the Earth’s interior.
Thus, geophysicists hope for a more in-depth investigation of the driving force of continental drifts. The research satellite Champ is a project of the geophysical research center in Potsdam (GFZ) and the German aerospace center (DLR). Jena Optronik GmbH, a subsidiary of Europe’s new aerospace company Astrium, was responsible for building the satellite.
