Astrium will develop an atomic clock ensemble in space (ACES) for the International Space Station (ISS) under a contract from the European Space Agency.
The contract involves the development of the ACES flight model up to its integration for launch on the Japanese HTV transport vehicle.
Additionally, Astrium will initiate the set-up of the ACES specific ground segment, and establish a network of ground reference clocks that will communicate with the ISS-based ACES payload and its two atomic clocks through microwave-link ground terminals.
The ACES payload will test a new generation of atomic clocks in space including the caesium cold atom clock PHARAO, developed by CNES, and the space hydrogen maser (SHM).
The clocks will be characterised and compared with each other and ground-based national time standards in different countries.
The ACES mission will improve the accuracy of time measurement and enable the analysis of the predictions of the theory of relativity with a higher resolution of up to two orders of magnitude compared with current experiments.
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By GlobalDataThe payload is expected to launch to the ISS in 2013 with an on-orbit accommodation on the Columbus external payload facility (CEPF) for a two-year mission.
