Dark Matter Particle Explorer and Its First Results

The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is China's first astronomical satellite dedicated to the indirect detection of dark matter particles and the study of high-energy astrophysics. It can measure high-energy electrons and gamma-rays up to 10 TeV with unprecedentedly high energy resolution and low background. Cosmic ray nuclei up to 100 TeV can also be measured. DAMPE was launched on December 17, 2015, and has been operating smoothly in space for more than two years since then. The first results about the precise measurements of the electron plus positron spectrum between 25 GeV and 4.6 TeV have been reported.      

Exploring Greenhouse Gases Water and Climate Changes:Scientific Opportunities for the Climate and Atmospheric Composition Exploring Satellites Mission

The Essential Climate Variables (ECVs), such as the atmospheric thermodynamic state variables and greenhouse gases, play an important role in the atmosphere physical processes and global climate change. Given the need of improvements in existing ground-based and satellite observations to successfully deliver atmosphere and climate benchmark data and reduce data ambiguity, the Climate and Atmospheric Composition Exploring Satellites mission (CACES) was proposed and selected as a candidate mission of the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy Science (SPRPCAS). This paper presents an overview of the key scientific questions and responses of ECVs in relation to global change; the principles, algorithms, and payloads of microwave occultation using centimeter and millimeter wave signals between low Earth orbit satellites (LEO-LEO microwave occultation, LMO) as well as of the LEO-LEO infrared-laser occultation (LIO); the CACES mission with its scientific objectives, mission concept, spacecraft and instrumentation.      

Progress and Prospects of the Strategic Priority Program on Space Science

In May 2018, the second phase of the Strategic Priority Program on Space Science (SPP II) was officially approved by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in view of the significant scientific achievements of the first phase of the Strategic Priority Program on Space Science (SPP I) which includes 4 space science missions:the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), ShiJian-10 (SJ-10), Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) and Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT). Aiming to address fundamental scientific questions, SPP II focuses on two major themes:How the universe and life originate and evolve and What is the relationship between the solar system and human beings. In areas that Chinese scientists have advantages, new space science missions including Graviational wave high-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM), the Advanced space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), the Einstein Probe (EP), and Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) have been approved in the framework of SPP II. This paper presents the research highlights of the SPP I, introduces the recent progress of SPP II, and puts forward the prospects for future development.      

Progress of Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer(SMILE) Mission

SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) mission is a joint ESA-CAS space science project. The working orbit is a 19 R_e 5000 km HEO with 4 scientific instruments:Soft X-ray Imager(SXI), Ultra-Violet Imager (UVI), Magnetometer (MAG) and Light Ion Analyzer (LIA). SMILE aims to understand the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere through the images of SXI and UVI and in-situ measurement from LIA and MAG. After the kick-off in 2016, the SMILE project went to Phase A study. The mission adoption is scheduled for November 2018, with a target launch date in 2022-2023. In this paper, the background of the mission, scientific objectives, the design and characteristics of scientific instruments and the mission outline will be introduced in details.      

Progress of Strategic Priority Program on Space Scienceormalsize

The most important all-round progress in China's Space Science in recent years is the official go-ahead of Strategic Priority Program (SPP) on Space Science in 2011, which marks China's space science has entered a new stage. SPP on Space Science includes 4 satellites (DAMPE, SJ-10, QUESS and HXMT), the Intensive Study of Future Space Science Missions, and the Advanced Research of Space Science Missions and Payloads. It is expected that the innovative breakthroughs will be achieved, and the great leaps of related high-technology will be driven through both independent space science missions and international cooperation. The implementation of the SPP on Space Science will enable the rapid development of China's space science endeavor, and contribute to the progress of human civilization.      

A Satellite-borne Miniature Ion Mass Spectrometer for Space Plasma

The miniature design technology is an important trend in space exploration. Mass spectrometer is used extensively in the space environment detection. The miniature ion mass spectrometer utilizes a 127° cylindrical electrostatic analyzer accompanied with a Time of Flight (TOF) unit based on ultrathin carbon foil to measure the energy spectra and composition of space plasma. The Time of Flight technique has been used broadly in space plasma measurement. A new type of miniature method for the ion mass spectrometer is introduced. The total mass of the instrument is 1.8 kg and the total power consumption is 2.0W. The calibration results show that the energy measurement range is 8.71～43550eV, the energy resolution is 1.86% and the ion mass from 1 amu (1 amu = 1.67 × 10-27 kg) to 58 amu can be resolved by the miniature mass spectrometer. The miniature ion mass spectrometer also has a potential to be increased in the field of view by an electrostatic deflecting system to extend its application in space plasma detection. The miniature ion mass spectrometer has been selected for pre-study of Chinese Strategic Priority Research Program on Space Science.      

Scientific Objectives and Payloads of Chinese First Mars Exploration

China plans to implement the first Mars exploration mission in 2020. It will conduct global and comprehensive exploration of Mars and high precision and fine resolution detection of key areas on Mars through orbiting, landing and roving. The scientific objectives include studying the Martian morphology and geological structure characteristics, studying the soil characteristics and the water-ice distribution on the Martian surface, studying the material composition on the Martian surface, studying the atmosphere ionosphere and surface climate and environmental characteristics of Mars, studying the physical field and internal structure of Mars and the Martian magnetic field characteristics. The mission equips 12 scientific payloads to achieve these scientific objectives. This paper mainly introduces the scientific objectives, exploration task, and scientific payloads.      

The Experimental Satellite on Electro-magnetism Monitoring

The Experimental Satellite on Electromagnetism Monitoring (ESEM) was proposed in 2003 and proved in 2013 after 10-years' scientific demonstration. The ESEM mission was proposed to be the first satellite of space-based geophysical fields observation system in China with a lot of application prospects in earthquake science, geophysics, space sciences and so on. And coincide with the mission objectives, the satellite decides to use the Circular Sun Synchronous Orbit with an altitude of 507km and descending node time at 14:00LT. The payload assemble includes 8 instruments, Search-Coil Magnetometer, Electric Field Detector, High precision Magnetometer, GNSS occupation Receiver, Plasma Analyzer, Langmuir Probe, Energetic Particle Detector, and Three-frequency Transmitter. According to the planned schedule, the satellite is due to be launched in 2016-2017 and will be onboard operated for 5 years.      

An Introduction to Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere Coupling Small Satellite Constellation

A future Chinese mission is introduced to study the coupling between magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere, i.e. the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere Coupling Small Satellite Constellation (MIT). The scientific objective of the mission is to focus on the outflow ions from the ionosphere to the magnetosphere. The constellation is planning to be composed of four small satellites; each small satellite has its own orbit and crosses the polar region at nearly the same time but at different altitude. The payloads onboard include particle detectors, electromagnetic payloads, auroral imagers and neutral atom imagers. With these payloads, the mission will be able to investigate acceleration mechanism of the upflow ions at different altitudes. Currently the orbits have been determined and prototypes of some have also been completed. Competition for next phase selection is scheduled in late 2015.      

Progress of Strategic Priority Program on Space Science

The Strategic Priority Program on Space Science in 2011-2017 (hereafter referred to as SPP I), which officially went ahead in 2011, marks that a new chapter of Chinese space endeavor has been opened. The 4 satellites, Wukong/DAMPE, SJ-10, Mozi/QUESS and Insight/HXMT, has been achieving promising scientific results since their launch, e.g., Wukong directly detected a break in the teraelectronvolt cosmic-ray spectrum of electrons and positrons. To enable the sustainable development of China's space science endeavor, the Strategic Priority Program Ⅱ on Space Science (hereafter referred to as SPP Ⅱ) was officially approved in late 2017. SPP Ⅱ includes 4 satellites-EP, ASO-S, SMILE and GECAM, Intensive Study of Future Space Science Missions, Advanced Research of Space Science Missions and Payloads, Space Science Mission Concept Research, and Data Analysis Research. Dedicated to exploring the unknown, the program is aiming to address scientific questions such as the origin and evolution of the universe and life, search for extraterrestrial life, and the impact of the Sun and the solar system on Earth and human development. Chinese space science community is committed to contributing to the progress of human civilization.      

Overview of the Solar Polar Orbit Telescope Project for Space Weather Mission

The Solar Polar ORbit Telescope (SPORT) project for space weather mission has been under intensive scientific and engineering background studies since it was incorporated into the Chinese Space Science Strategic Pioneer Project in 2011.SPORT is designed to carry a suite of remote-sensing and in-situ instruments to observe Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs),energetic particles,solar high-latitude magnetism,and the fast solar wind from a polar orbit around the Sun. The first extended view of the polar regions of the Sun and the ecliptic enabled by SPORT will provide a unique opportunity to study CME propagation through the inner heliosphere,and the solar high-latitude magnetism giving rise to eruptions and the fast solar wind.Coordinated observations between SPORT and other spaceborne/ground-based facilities within the International Living With a Star (ILWS) framework can significantly enhance scientific output.SPORT is now competing for official selection and implementation during China's 13th Five-Year Plan period of 2016-2020.      

Current Status and Main Scientific Results of In-flight CSES Mission

The CSES (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite) is the electromagnetism satellite of China's Zhangheng mission which is planned to launch a series of microsatellites within next 10 years in order to monitor the electromagnetic environment, gravitational field. The CSES 01 probe (also called ZH-1) was launched successfully on 2 February 2018, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (China) and is expected to operate for 5 years in orbit. The second probe CSES 02 is going to be launched in 2022. The scientific objectives of CSES are to detect the electromagnetic field and waves, plasma and particles, for studying the seismic-associated disturbances. To meet the requirements of scientific objective, the satellite is designed to be in a sun-synchronous orbit with a high inclination of 97.4° at an altitude around 507 km. CSES carries nine scientific payloads including Search-coil magnetometer, Electric Field Detector, High precision Magnetometer, GNSS occultation Receiver, Plasma Analyzer, Langmuir Probe, two Energetic Particle Detectors (including an Italian one), and Tri-Band Transmitter. Up to now, CSES has been operating in orbit for 2 years with stable and reliable performance. By using all kinds of data acquired by CSES, we have undertaken a series of scientific researches in the field of global geomagnetic field re-building, the ionospheric variation environment, waves, and particle precipitations under disturbed space weather and earthquake activities, the Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere coupling mechanism research and so on.      

Development Progress of China's First Mars Exploration Mission: Its Scientific Objectives and Payloads

China's first Mars exploration mission is scheduled to be launched in 2020. It aims not only to conduct global and comprehensive exploration of Mars by use of an orbiter but also to carry out in situ observation of key sites on Mars with a rover. This mission focuses on the following studies:topography, geomorphology, geological structure, soil characteristics, water-ice distribution, material composition, atmosphere and ionosphere, surface climate, environmental characteristics, Mars internal structure, and Martian magnetic field. It is comprised of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover equipped with 13 scientific payloads. This article will give an introduction to the mission including mission plan, scientific objectives, scientific payloads, and its recent development progress.      

Strategic Priority Program on Space Science

In 1957, the launch of the first artificial satellite ushered in a new era for modern space science.The past 50 years' developments in China's space science have witnessed many major missions, and substantial progress has been achieved in space science study, exploration technology as well as experiment technology. Strategic Priority Program on Space Science was officially started in 2011. Through both self-developed space science missions and those with international cooperation,it is expected that the innovative breakthroughs will be realized, leapfrog development of related high-tech will be achieved to establish the important strategic status of space science in national development. To sum up, the implementation of the Strategic Priority Program on Space Science will definitely promote the rapid development of China's space science endeavor, making contributions to China's development and the progress of human civilization.      

Quantum Science Satellite

Quantum Science Satellite is one of the first five space science missions, slated for launch in the framework of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Strategic Priority Research Program on space science. The project aims to establish a space platform with long-distance satellite and ground quantum channel, and carry out a series of tests about fundamental quantum principles and protocols in space-based large scale. The satellite will be launched at Jiuquan and on orbit for 2 years. The orbit will be circular and Sun-synchronous with an altitude of 600km. It crosses the descending node at 00:00LT. The satellite is under early prototype development currently.      

Orbit Design for Twin-spacecraft Space VLBI

Space Very Long Baseline Interferometry (S-VLBI) is an aperture synthesis technique utilizing an array of radio telescopes including ground telescopes and space orbiting telescopes. It can achieve much higher spatial resolution than that from the ground-only VLBI. In this paper, a new concept of twin spacecraft S-VLBI has been proposed, which utilizes the space-space baselines formed by two satellites to obtain larger and uniform uv coverage without atmospheric influence and hence achieve high quality images with higher angular resolution. The orbit selections of the two satellites are investigated. The imaging performance and actual launch conditions are all taken into account in orbit designing of the twin spacecraft S-VLBI. Three schemes of orbit design using traditional elliptical orbits and circular orbits are presented. These design results can be used for different scientific goals. Furthermore, these designing ideas can provide useful references for the future Chinese millimeter-wave S-VLBI mission.      

A Revisit of the Phobos Events

The magnetic field disturbances detected by the Phobos-2 spacecraft in 1989 have been suggested to be caused by a ring of dust and/or gas emitted from the Martian moon, Phobos. The physical nature of these ``Phobos events' is examined using results from related investigations over the last twenty years. It is concluded that there is no clear evidence at present to support the association of magnetic field disturbances in the solar wind with Phobos. The situation will be further clarified taking advantage of the multi-spacecraft observations of the Yinghuo-1(YH-1), Mars Express and MAVEN missions beginning in 2012. It is expected that many novel features of solar wind interaction with Phobos (and possibly also Deimos) itself will also be revealed.      

THE SPACE EXPERIMENT OF PROTEIN CRYSTALLIZATION ABOARD THE CHINESE SPACECRAFT SZ-3

Using a new flight hardware, a Chinese mission of space protein crystallization has been performed on the Chinese spacecraft SZ-3 for seven days from March 25 to Apr. 1, 2002. The rate of yielding crystals in the 60 samples is 75%, a little higher than the ground control experiment. Preliminary analysis of the experimental results have shown that among the 16 proteins involved in the mission, about 4 kinds of better diffraction-quality protein crystals were produced in space. At least one kind of protein crystals, i.e. crystals of cytochrome b5 mutant could diffract X ray beyond the highest resolution reported so far. In addition, some rules derived from our numerical studies of the liquid/liquid diffusion protein crystallization were proved by the crystallization of lysozyme as model protein in this space experiment,which also clearly showed the advantages and disadvantages of the gelled protein solution used in microgravity growth of protein crystals. In order to exploit this mission, more diffraction work with the grown crystals and detailed analysis of data to be obtained will be done in the next few months.     

A Cosmic Microscope to Probe the Universe from Present to Cosmic Dawn:Dual-element Lowfrequency Space VLBI Observatory

A space-based Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) program, named as the Cosmic Microscope, is proposed to involve dual VLBI telescopes in the space working together with giant ground-based telescopes (e.g., Square Kilometre Array, FAST, Arecibo) to image the low radio frequency Universe with the purpose of unraveling the compact structure of cosmic constituents including supermassive black holes and binaries, pulsars, astronomical masers and the underlying source, and exoplanets amongst others. The operational frequency bands are 30, 74, 330 and 1670 MHz, supporting broad science areas. The mission plans to launch two 30-m-diameter radio telescopes into 2 000 km×90 000 km elliptical orbits. The two telescopes can work in flexibly diverse modes. (i) Space-ground VLBI. The maximum space-ground baseline length is about 100 000 km; it provides a high-dynamic-range imaging capacity with unprecedented high resolutions at low frequencies (0.3 mas at 1.67 GHz and 20 mas at 30 MHz) enabling studies of exoplanets and supermassive black hole binaries (which emit nanoHz gravitational waves). (ii) Space-space single-baseline VLBI. This unique baseline enables the detection of flaring hydroxyl masers, and more precise position measurement of pulsars and radio transients at mas level. (iii) Single dish mode, where each telescope can be used to monitor transient bursts and rapidly trigger follow-up VLBI observations. The large space telescope will also contribute in measuring and constraining the total angular power spectrum from the Epoch of Reionization. In short, the Cosmic Microscope offers astronomers the opportunity to conduct novel, frontier science.      

Preliminary Scientific Results of Chang'E-1 Lunar Orbiter: Based on Payloads Detection Data in the First Phase

Chang'E-1 lunar Orbiter was launched by Long March 3A rocket from Xichang Satel-lite Launch Center at 18:05BT(Beijing Time) Oct.24,2007.It is the first step of its ambitious three-stage moon program,a new milestone in the Chinese space exploration history.The primary science objectives of Chang'E-1 lunar orbiter are to obtain three-Dimension(3D) stereo images of the lunar surface,to analyze the distribution and abundance of elements on the surface,to investigate the thickness of lunar soil,evaluate helium-3 resources and other characteristics,and to detect the space environment around the moon.To achieve the above four mission objectives,eight sets of scientific instruments are chosen as the payloads of the lunar orbiter,including a CCD stereo camera(CCD),a Sagnac-based interferometer spectrometer(ⅡM),a Laser Altimeter(LAM),a Microwave Radiometer(MRM),a Gamma-Ray Spectrometer(GRS),an X-ray spectrometer(XRS),a High-Energy Particle Detector(HPD),and two Solar Wind Ion Detectors(SWID).The detected data of the payloads show that all payloads work well.This paper introduces the status of payloads in the first phase and preliminary scientific results.