Names | Wukong,[1] TanSuo[2] |
---|---|
Mission type | High-energy Astronomy |
Operator | CAS |
COSPAR ID | 2015-078A[3] |
SATCAT no. | 41173 |
Mission duration | 3 years (planned)[4] Elapsed: 9 years, 2 months, 12 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Payload mass | 1,400 kg (3,100 lb)[4] |
Power | 400 W [4] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 17 December 2015 00:12 UTC |
Rocket | Long March 2D, No. 2D-Y31[5] |
Launch site | Jiuquan Launch Area 4, Launch Pad 603[4] |
Contractor | SAST |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Sun-synchronous orbit |
Periapsis altitude | 500 km (310 mi) [4] |
Inclination | 97.4° |
Main Gamma rays | |
Wavelengths | high energy gamma ray |
The Dark Matter Particle Explorer, or DAMPE, also known as Wukong (Chinese: 悟空), is a Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) satellite which launched on 17 December 2015.[4] The satellite was launched on a Long March 2D rocket from Launch Pad 603 at the LC-43 complex, also known as the South Launch Site, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.[4] It is China's first space observatory.
DAMPE is a space telescope used for the detection of high energy gamma rays, electrons and cosmic ray ions, to aid in the search for dark matter.[4][6] It was designed to look for the indirect decay signal of a hypothetical dark matter candidate called weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs).[7]
The project is the result of a collaboration among research institutions and universities in Italy, Switzerland and China under the leadership of the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Barbosa 2015
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).