CSES-02:
In a Nutshell

How it works

The onboard payloads include:

• Two particle detectors:
  The High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD-02), developed by the Italian Limadou Collaboration;
  The Medium Energy Electron Detector (MEED), which replaces the High Energy Particle Package (HEPP) used in CSES-01;
• A High-Precision Magnetometer (HPM);
• A Search-Coil Magnetometer (SCM);
• The Electric Field Detector (EFD-02), also developed by the Italian Limadou Collaboration;
• Two new instruments:
  A Coherent Population Trap (CPT) system;
  An Ionospheric Photometer (IP);
• A Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Occultation Receiver (GOR);
• A Tri-Band Beacon (TBB) transmitter;
• A Langmuir Probe (LP);
• A Plasma Analyzer Package (PAP).

Both HEPD-02 and EFD-02 incorporate several technological improvements over their counterparts flown on CSES-01.

Details about each payload and their observational targets are reported in the table below.

CSES-02 is built on the same CAST2000 satellite platform as CSES-01, developed by DFH Satellite Co., Ltd., with several enhancements.

Key specifications include:

• Total mass: ~900 kg
• Peak power consumption: ~900 W
• Data storage: 512 GB
• Data transmission rate: 150 Mbps

CSES-02 will operate in a Sun-synchronous polar orbit, identical to that of CSES-01:

• Altitude: ~507 km
• Inclination: 97°
• Orbital period: 94.6 minutes
• Local Time of Descending Node (LTDN): 14:00.

CSES-02 relies on an Earth oriented 3-axis stabilization system with an Attitude Pointing Accuracy  ≤0.1°(3σ).

It will be injected into the same orbital plane with a 180° phase shift, enabling a complementary ground track. This configuration effectively reduces the revisit time from 5 days to 2.5 days, significantly improving temporal resolution and correlation capabilities, and establishing a new dual-satellite system for ionospheric monitoring.

Unlike CSES-01, whose payload operations were initially limited to latitudes between ±65° (later expanded to ±70°), CSES-02 will enable full-orbit payload operation, greatly enhancing coverage and broadening the range of scientific investigations.