7,2,8,2,2,10,- 1Bundeswehr University Munich, Institute of Space Technology and Space Applications, Munich, Germany (tom.andert@unibw.de)
- 2Rheinisches Institut für Umweltforschung (RIU), Department of Planetary Research, Cologne, Germany
- 3Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
- 4German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Space Systems, Avionics Systems Department, Bremen, Germany
- 5The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Frontier Science, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
- 6ISAS/JAXA, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai/Sag, Japan
- 7Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rome, Italy
- 8Nara Women's University, Nara, Japan
- 9TimeTech GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany
- 10University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1, United Kingdom
- 11LATMOS/IPSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, UVSQ, Paris, France
The M-MATISSE mission, currently in its Phase A study by the European Space Agency (ESA), is a Medium-class (M7) candidate that aims to explore the complex interactions between Mars' magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere (MIT coupling). The mission comprises identical payloads aboard the two spacecraft Henri and Marguerite.
The two spacecraft will follow elliptical orbits with a common pericenter at 250 km altitude, but differing apocenters at 3,000 km and 10,000 km, respectively. This configuration enables a comprehensive analysis of the Martian plasma environment and allows for the separation of temporal and spatial variabilities.
The MaCro instrument, utilizing an inter-satellite radio link, will investigate atmospheric occultation events from 1,000 km altitude down to the surface—encompassing both the ionosphere and the neutral atmosphere. Occultations occur when one spacecraft is obscured by the Martian disk as viewed from the other (see Figure above). Operating simultaneously at UHF and S-band frequencies, the MaCro instrument allows for a clear distinction between the ionospheric plasma and the neutral atmosphere.
The instrumentation includes two software-defined transceivers (SDRs) operating at UHF and S-band, each stabilized by a Master Reference Oscillator (MRO). The primary observables are the Doppler shift of the carrier frequency—induced by the bending of the radio signal in the atmosphere and ionosphere—and the received signal power.
This presentation will outline the technical concept of the MaCro instrument, evaluate its expected performance in terms of noise and frequency stability.
How to cite: Andert, T., Pätzold, M., Vorderobermeier, T., Tellmann, S., Plettemeier, D., Budroweit, J., Imamura, T., Ando, H., Genova, A., Hahn, M., Noguchi, K., Oschlisniok, J., Peter, K., Schäfer, W., Sanchez-Cano, B., and Leblanc, F.: The MaCro Instrument Concept for Dual-Frequency Crosslink Occultations at Mars, EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2025, Helsinki, Finland, 7–12 Sep 2025, EPSC-DPS2025-700, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc-dps2025-700, 2025.
