The space cold atom interferometer for testing the equivalence principle in the China Space Station

The precision of the weak equivalence principle (WEP) test using atom interferometers (AIs) is expected to be extremely high in microgravity environment. A dual-species cold rubidium atom interferometer payload, highly integrated (460 mm × 330 mm × 260 mm), is designed for installation in the microgravity scientific laboratory cabinet (MSLC) of the China Space Station (CSS) to conduct high-precision WEP tests. This article details the payload design constraints, compositions, functions, expected space-based test precision, and ground test results.

Meng He, Xi Chen, Jie Fang, Qunfeng Chen, Huanyao Sun, Yibo Wang, Jiaqi Zhong, Lin Zhou, Chuan He, Jinting Li, Danfang Zhang, Guiguo Ge, Wenzhang Wang, Yang Zhou, Xiao Li, Xiaowei Zhang, Lei Qin, Zhiyong Chen, Rundong Xu, Yan Wang, Zongyuan Xiong, Junjie Jiang, Zhendi Cai, Kuo Li, Guo Zheng, Weihua Peng, Jin Wang, Mingsheng Zhan