The CARIOQA (Cold Atom Rubidium Interferometer in Orbit for Quantum Accelerometry) mission is an European Union funded project aimed to develop a new technology to be used in space within the next decade: quantum accelerometer. This technology represents a breakthrough in space research as it will considerably improve the measurements of Earth gravity from space.
Christine Fallet, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Paris
The stakes of the CARIOQA mission are high. Observing Earth's gravity from space could lead to numerous applications in glaciology, hydrology, oceanography and internal geophysics. Changes in Earth's gravity field reflect shifts in mass distribution, including water. Satellites like CARIOQA should be able to detect these variations, allowing scientists to track changes in groundwater, ice sheets, and more. This information is crucial for managing water resources, understanding climate change, and predicting natural disasters like droughts and floods.
Coordinated by CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales), the French national space agency, CARIOQA-PMP (Pathfinder Mission Preparation) is the preparatory pathway for the overall mission, that lead to Phase A and B. Launched at the end of 2022, CARIOQA-PMP brings together leading players from five EU countries. These include experts in satellite instrument development, quantum sensing, space geodesy, Earth sciences, and users of gravity field data, as well as experts in impact maximization and impact assessment. The multi-disciplinary collaboration of different areas of expertise allows to develop the quantum accelerometer Engineering Model (which can be seen in Figure 1).
The phase A of the project, CARIOQA-PHA (PHase A), launched last January 2024, is a continuation of the CARIOQA-PMP project. The overarching objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of a Quantum Space Gravimetry Pathfinder Mission within the decade, thus enabling the European Union to deploy quantum gravimeters/accelerometers in space. CARIOQA-PHA will build the first step in the development of a Quantum Space Gravimetry Pathfinder Mission, relying on instrument technology developed in CARIOQA-PMP. As the first phase of the programme, CARIOQA-PHA is particularly important for defining the project requirements and constraints, elaborating the technical and functional specifications of the system, and identifying the concepts that meet the mission's needs.
Learn more about the CARIOQA Programme.