Space Systems Laboratory (SSL)

Double Star TC1

Double Star was a joint mission between the European and Chinese Space agencies to explore the interaction of the solar wind with the Earth's geospace environment.

The mission consists of two satellites, named Tan Ce 1 (TC1) that occupies an equatorial orbit and Tan Ce 2 (TC2) in a polar orbit. 'Tan Ce' means explorer.

The part of the scientific payload provided by ESA consistes of a set of instruments whose designs are based on those of the ESA Cluster satellites.