SG-R1

The SG-R1 is a triaxial satellite magnetometer built at IFA for a joint experiment with the IZMIRAN institute in Moscow, begun in 1976, to detect and characterise the field-aligned currents that cross the magnetosphere and ionosphere along the field lines [1]. It used the Soviet DSG-70 triaxial transducer of the SG-70 magnetometer; its range was ±60,000 nT with a resolution of 12.5 nT (13 bits), within limits of 2 kg and 2 W [1]. It flew on the IK-18 (MAGIK) satellite, launched in 1978, and sent data for two and a half years – the first step of the Intercosmos programme for high-resolution vector measurement of the Earth’s magnetic field [1]. It was followed by the SG-R2 [1].