Cluster
Cluster is a European Space Agency (ESA) project comprising four satellites to study Earth's magnetosphere and its boundary layers.
Illustration: ESA
The spacecraft were first launched from Kourou on 4 June 1996 on the first flight of the new Ariane 5 launch vehicle, but the launch was not successful and the four spacecraft were lost. ESA decided to build four identical replacements, which were launched in pairs on Soyuz launchers from Baikonur on 16 July and 9 August 2000.
KTH is responsible for part of the analogue electronics for the electric fields and waves instrument (EFW), and for setting up and operating the Scandinavian Data Centre which is part of the Cluster Science Data System.
Operations are ongoing since February 2001. Thanks to the large success of the mission with almost all instruments still operating and a continued high scientific publication rate, ESA has extended the original 2-year mission several times - it is now planned to end in 2021. The KTH group has a leading scientific role in the areas of auroral particle acceleration, ULF pulsations, and ionospheric convection, but has also contributed significantly to many other topics as can be seen in the publication list.
Team
