Gravity sensing: cold atom trap onboard a 6U CubeSat

Diviya Devani; Stephen Maddox; Ryan Renshaw; Nigel Cox; Helen Sweeney; Trevor Cross; Michael Holynski; Raffaele Nolli; Jonathan Winch; Kai Bongs; Karen Holland; David Colebrook; Neil Adams; Kevin Quillien; James Buckle; Anupe Karde; Mark Farries; Tom Legg; Richard Webb; Corin Gawith; Sam A. Berry; Lewis Carpenter

doi:10.1007/s12567-020-00326-4

Gravity sensing: cold atom trap onboard a 6U CubeSat

Diviya Devani^*, Stephen Maddox, Ryan Renshaw, Nigel Cox, Helen Sweeney, Trevor Cross, Michael Holynski, Raffaele Nolli, Jonathan Winch, Kai Bongs, Karen Holland, David Colebrook, Neil Adams, Kevin Quillien, James Buckle, Anupe Karde, Mark Farries, Tom Legg, Richard Webb, Corin GawithSam A. Berry, Lewis Carpenter

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

“Cold atoms” can be used as ultra-sensitive sensors for measuring accelerations and are capable of mapping changes in the strength of gravity across the surface of the Earth. They could offer significant benefits to existing space based gravity sensing capabilities. Gravity sensors in space are already used for many Earth observation applications including monitoring polar ice mass, ocean currents and sea level. Cold atom sensors could enable higher resolution measurements which would allow monitoring of smaller water sources and discovery of new underground natural resources which are currently undetectable. The adoption of cold atom technology is constrained by low technology readiness level (TRL). Teledyne e2v and its partners are addressing this maturity gap through project Cold Atom Space PAyload (CASPA) which is an Innovate UK and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded project, involving the University of Birmingham as science lead, XCAM, Clyde Space, Covesion, Gooch & Housego, and the University of Southampton. Through the CASPA project the consortium have built and vibration tested a 6U (approximate dimensions: 100 × 200 × 300 mm) cube Satellite (CubeSat) that is capable of laser cooling atoms down to 100’s of micro kelvin, as a pre-cursor to gravity sensors for future Earth observation missions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	539-549
Number of pages	11
Journal	CEAS Space Journal
Volume	12
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-020-00326-4
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for the support and funding on the Cold Atom Space PAyload project.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).

Keywords

Cold atom interferometry
Cube satellite
Gravity sensing
Quantum payload

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Aerospace Engineering
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1007/s12567-020-00326-4

Cite this

Devani, D., Maddox, S., Renshaw, R., Cox, N., Sweeney, H., Cross, T., Holynski, M., Nolli, R., Winch, J., Bongs, K., Holland, K., Colebrook, D., Adams, N., Quillien, K., Buckle, J., Karde, A., Farries, M., Legg, T., Webb, R., ... Carpenter, L. (2020). Gravity sensing: cold atom trap onboard a 6U CubeSat. CEAS Space Journal, 12(4), 539-549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-020-00326-4

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title = "Gravity sensing: cold atom trap onboard a 6U CubeSat",

abstract = "“Cold atoms” can be used as ultra-sensitive sensors for measuring accelerations and are capable of mapping changes in the strength of gravity across the surface of the Earth. They could offer significant benefits to existing space based gravity sensing capabilities. Gravity sensors in space are already used for many Earth observation applications including monitoring polar ice mass, ocean currents and sea level. Cold atom sensors could enable higher resolution measurements which would allow monitoring of smaller water sources and discovery of new underground natural resources which are currently undetectable. The adoption of cold atom technology is constrained by low technology readiness level (TRL). Teledyne e2v and its partners are addressing this maturity gap through project Cold Atom Space PAyload (CASPA) which is an Innovate UK and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded project, involving the University of Birmingham as science lead, XCAM, Clyde Space, Covesion, Gooch & Housego, and the University of Southampton. Through the CASPA project the consortium have built and vibration tested a 6U (approximate dimensions: 100 × 200 × 300 mm) cube Satellite (CubeSat) that is capable of laser cooling atoms down to 100{\textquoteright}s of micro kelvin, as a pre-cursor to gravity sensors for future Earth observation missions.",

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author = "Diviya Devani and Stephen Maddox and Ryan Renshaw and Nigel Cox and Helen Sweeney and Trevor Cross and Michael Holynski and Raffaele Nolli and Jonathan Winch and Kai Bongs and Karen Holland and David Colebrook and Neil Adams and Kevin Quillien and James Buckle and Anupe Karde and Mark Farries and Tom Legg and Richard Webb and Corin Gawith and Berry, {Sam A.} and Lewis Carpenter",

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doi = "10.1007/s12567-020-00326-4",

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Devani, D, Maddox, S, Renshaw, R, Cox, N, Sweeney, H, Cross, T, Holynski, M, Nolli, R, Winch, J, Bongs, K, Holland, K, Colebrook, D, Adams, N, Quillien, K, Buckle, J, Karde, A, Farries, M, Legg, T, Webb, R, Gawith, C, Berry, SA & Carpenter, L 2020, 'Gravity sensing: cold atom trap onboard a 6U CubeSat', CEAS Space Journal, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 539-549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-020-00326-4

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T2 - cold atom trap onboard a 6U CubeSat

AU - Devani, Diviya

AU - Maddox, Stephen

AU - Renshaw, Ryan

AU - Cox, Nigel

AU - Sweeney, Helen

AU - Cross, Trevor

AU - Holynski, Michael

AU - Nolli, Raffaele

AU - Winch, Jonathan

AU - Bongs, Kai

AU - Holland, Karen

AU - Colebrook, David

AU - Adams, Neil

AU - Quillien, Kevin

AU - Buckle, James

AU - Karde, Anupe

AU - Farries, Mark

AU - Legg, Tom

AU - Webb, Richard

AU - Gawith, Corin

AU - Berry, Sam A.

AU - Carpenter, Lewis

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for the support and funding on the Cold Atom Space PAyload project. Publisher Copyright: © 2020, The Author(s).

PY - 2020/12/1

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N2 - “Cold atoms” can be used as ultra-sensitive sensors for measuring accelerations and are capable of mapping changes in the strength of gravity across the surface of the Earth. They could offer significant benefits to existing space based gravity sensing capabilities. Gravity sensors in space are already used for many Earth observation applications including monitoring polar ice mass, ocean currents and sea level. Cold atom sensors could enable higher resolution measurements which would allow monitoring of smaller water sources and discovery of new underground natural resources which are currently undetectable. The adoption of cold atom technology is constrained by low technology readiness level (TRL). Teledyne e2v and its partners are addressing this maturity gap through project Cold Atom Space PAyload (CASPA) which is an Innovate UK and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded project, involving the University of Birmingham as science lead, XCAM, Clyde Space, Covesion, Gooch & Housego, and the University of Southampton. Through the CASPA project the consortium have built and vibration tested a 6U (approximate dimensions: 100 × 200 × 300 mm) cube Satellite (CubeSat) that is capable of laser cooling atoms down to 100’s of micro kelvin, as a pre-cursor to gravity sensors for future Earth observation missions.

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Gravity sensing: cold atom trap onboard a 6U CubeSat

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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