High Performance Low Integration Cost Magnetometer System

An innovative data collection and analysis approach is proposed to enable body mount magnetometers for space application. In order to achieve high accurate magnetic field measurement in space, the magnetometer has to be located in a âmagnetically cleanâ place, where the magnetic field from spacecraft is negligible. Usually, the magnetometers are placed on deployable booms, so that the field sensors are far away from the spacecraft main body. However, long booms introduce extra cost, weigh, mechanical complexity and potential deployment errors. In addition, wiring cable between the magnetometer on boom and its associated electronics system inside spacecraft main body also introduces extra weight and performance impacts. All above mentioned cost, performance and reliability concerns can be eliminated if the magnetometer system can be placed inside the spacecraftsâ main body. Therefore, the proposed approach can significantly reduce the satellite integration cost by enabling body mount scientific magnetometer system. BENEFIT: By reducing the integration cost of satellite, more spacecrafts can carry scientific grade magnetometers. This benefit is applicable to both military and civilian space programs.