DSLP instrument

The DSLP (Dual Segmented Langmuir Probe) instrument on board the Proba-2 spacecraft at QinetiQ Space's (then Verhaert's) cleanroom facility in Kruibeke, Belgium. The two segmented Langmuir probe sensors SLPA and SLPB (see details in the left hand frames) are mounted in one of the deployable solar panels. Amplified signals measured on the sensors are led by the white-coloured harness into the DPU (digital processing unit, detailed view in the right frame) which is accomodated on the main platform inside the body of the satellite.

The DSLP is one of the four scientific experiments on board the ESA microsatellite Proba-2. The DSLP instrument has been developed and manufactured in the Czech Republic by a
scientific-industrial consortium within the ESA PECS/PRODEX program. The consortium is led by the Astronomical Institute (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) with technological and industrial support provided by the Research and Scientific Support Department of ESTEC/ESA (Noordwijk, Holland) and the Czech Space Research Center company (Brno, Czech Republic). As a part of the Plasma Measurement Equipment, the DSLP instrument will aim at studying characteristic macroscopic properties (e.g. density, temperature or flow dynamics) of ionospheric plasmas and, with use of SWAP and LYRA observations, try to identify observed irregularities with possible solar-terrestrial connection related to sudden space weather events. A comprehensive knowledge of the ionospheric environment is important from many not solely scientific aspects. Intense solar
events cause massive geomagnetic storms that represent possible risk of damage for communication and navigation satellite systems, ground electric grids and pipelines, or even radiation hazards for humans. Detailed study of ionospheric processes and their space weather relations thus becomes an considerable issue in current space research activities.