11 March 2022
Tianqin 1, China’s first satellite for space-based gravitational wave detection, collected in summer 2020 global gravity field data, marking the first time China has obtained such data by self-developed satellite, according to Luo Jun, Chief Scientist of China’s Tianqin programme for space gravitational wave detection. Tianqin 1 is not a dedicated satellite for Earth’s gravity field measurement, rather a technology verification satellite for detecting gravitational wave in space. Collected as a side-result, the data are of less precision but the outcome is significant as it represents the success in pioneering technologies for the whole process of data handling in using low-orbit satellite to estimate global gravity field.
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