The Microscope satellite, launched in April 2016, has been correctly de-orbited on 16 October using a new system, IDEAS triggered by the BTCU-PS that EREMS has designed and developed for the CNES (delivered in December 2014).
Oct. 18 - Successful deployment of IDEAS equipment onboard Microscope
Category(-ies) : EREMS electronics in Space
The Microscope satellite, has been de-orbited using a new system, IDEAS (Innovative DEorbiting Aerobrake System). Inflatable booms were deployed to passively de-orbit the spacecraft. By this method, MICROSCOPE is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere within 25 years instead of 73 years to enter the atmosphere faster (in order to limit waste in orbit).
This deployment is achieved through a pyrotechnic signal triggered by the BTCU-PS that EREMS has designed and developed for the CNES (delivered to CNES in December 2014). More information on Microscope final days on this link (CNES website).
The first results of Microscope have already made it possible to constrain certain alternative theories that aim to unify quantum physics and general relativity.