The Swarm mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) began today with the launch at 13:02 of the rocket that will put three Russian satellites into orbit at an altitude of 490 km. The fleet aims to study the magnetic signals emitted by the core of our planet in order to explain the deceleration of its rotational movement.
The three identical satellites that make up the mission travel aboard a Rockot rocket, which has taken off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, about 800 km northeast of Moscow (Russia). The Swarm program seeks to record information on the dynamics of the Earth's core, the geodynamic processes and the core-mantle interaction through the study of the planet's magnetic shield. This will serve as a way to better understand the "dynamo" of the Earth, which according to the latest observations, seems to be slowing down its activity.
Our planet's magnetic field extends from the inner core to the point where it meets the solar wind, a stream of energetic particles emanating from the sun. It acts as a protective shield, allowing the existence of the atmosphere and therefore of life. Its intensity varies constantly and, according to astronomers, it has weakened by 15% over the last 150 years.
After launch, it will take three months of necessary tests and calibrations before the experts can start working with the Swarm squad . Two of the spacecraft will orbit in parallel, decaying to 300 km over four years, while the third will remain at the initial altitude.
