The ACES mission: System development and test status

Hess, M.P.; Stringhetti, L.; Hummelsberger, B.; Hausner, K.; Stalford, R.; Nasca, R.; Cacciapuoti, L.; Much, R.; Feltham, S.; Vudali, T.; Leger, B.; Picard, F.; Massonnet, D.; Rochat, P.; Goujon, D.; Schäfer, W.; Laurent, Philippe; Lemonde, P.; Clairon, A.; Wolf, Peter; Salomon, C.; Procházka, Ivan; Schreiber, K. U.; Montenbruck, Oliver

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2011.07.002

Cited by 53 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…An improvement to 10 -5 is expected, when using the on-board atomic hydrogen maser clock on board of the RadioAstron satellite with highly eccentric orbit (Litvinov et al 2017). An even more stringent limit can come from the planned space mission ACES with an ultra-stable Cs clock in orbit, which aims for a 35-fold improvement of the GP-A results (Heß et al 2011). Proposals for future optical clocks in space target at gravitational redshift tests at the level of 10 -7 (Altschul et al 2015).…”

Section: Relativistic Redshift Measurements -To Which Level Can We Trmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomic clocks for geodesy

et al. 2018

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We review experimental progress on optical atomic clocks and frequency transfer, and consider the prospects of using these technologies for geodetic measurements. Today, optical atomic frequency standards have reached relative frequency inaccuracies below 10, opening new fields of fundamental and applied research. The dependence of atomic frequencies on the gravitational potential makes atomic clocks ideal candidates for the search for deviations in the predictions of Einstein's general relativity, tests of modern unifying theories and the development of new gravity field sensors. In this review, we introduce the concepts of optical atomic clocks and present the status of international clock development and comparison. Besides further improvement in stability and accuracy of today's best clocks, a large effort is put into increasing the reliability and technological readiness for applications outside of specialized laboratories with compact, portable devices. With relative frequency uncertainties of 10, comparisons of optical frequency standards are foreseen to contribute together with satellite and terrestrial data to the precise determination of fundamental height reference systems in geodesy with a resolution at the cm-level. The long-term stability of atomic standards will deliver excellent long-term height references for geodetic measurements and for the modelling and understanding of our Earth.

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Section: Relativistic Redshift Measurements -To Which Level Can We Trmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomic clocks for geodesy

et al. 2018

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“…A prominent example is the search for dark matter 13 by monitoring the local time scale jitter when the Earth moves through cosmic domains. Accurate mapping of the relative gravitational shift of clocks will enhance redshift tests 14 performed with clocks in space (Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES)). Highly accurate clock networks can also perform tests of the Einstein equivalence principle 15 by searching for frequency modulation between clocks in a network moving in the Sun's gravitational potential, or can provide a better synchronization between very long baseline interferometers.…”

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confidence: 99%

A clock network for geodesy and fundamental science

et al. 2016

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Leveraging the unrivalled performance of optical clocks as key tools for geo-science, for astronomy and for fundamental physics beyond the standard model requires comparing the frequency of distant optical clocks faithfully. Here, we report on the comparison and agreement of two strontium optical clocks at an uncertainty of 5 × 10−17 via a newly established phase-coherent frequency link connecting Paris and Braunschweig using 1,415 km of telecom fibre. The remote comparison is limited only by the instability and uncertainty of the strontium lattice clocks themselves, with negligible contributions from the optical frequency transfer. A fractional precision of 3 × 10−17 is reached after only 1,000 s averaging time, which is already 10 times better and more than four orders of magnitude faster than any previous long-distance clock comparison. The capability of performing high resolution international clock comparisons paves the way for a redefinition of the unit of time and an all-optical dissemination of the SI-second.

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“…Precise optical time transfer over large distances with an accuracy of far less than a nanosecond has been proposed for the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) onboard the International Space Station (ISS) and the concept is currently under construction [4] with an expected launch date in 2015. The time transfer is based on SLR, where two-way time of flight measurements are used to establish the orbit of the ISS.…”

Section: Common Clock Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the importance of time and frequency in geodesy

Hugentobler¹

2013

2013 Joint European Frequency and Time Forum &Amp; International Frequency Control Symposium (EFTF/IFC)

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According to Friedrich Robert Helmert geodesy is the science of the measurement and mapping of the figure of the Earth. With the advent of the space age it was possible to establish a global reference frame, which can relate different locations across the entire Earth with an accuracy of currently about 1 cm with respect to each other. A rapid development of highly precise and stable frequency standards took place at the same time and is an important prerequisite for the actual quality of this global terrestrial reference frame. In fact all measurement techniques in modern space geodesy are based on precise time and frequency. Growing demands for the monitoring of global change as one of several examples of the importance of a highly resolved reference frame require more than one order of magnitude improvement over the existing level of quality. Optical clocks, optical frequency combs and near lossless time and frequency transfer have the potential to provide significant improvements of the individual techniques of space geodesy. This talk reviews how time and frequency impacts space geodesy and how the observation techniques may benefit from the recent progress in this field.

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The ACES mission: System development and test status

Cited by 53 publications

References 13 publications

Atomic clocks for geodesy

Atomic clocks for geodesy

A clock network for geodesy and fundamental science

On the importance of time and frequency in geodesy

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