CHAMP (CHAllenging Microsatellite Payload) is a German
spacecraft launched July 15, 2000, into an 87 deg inclination, 454 km
altitude orbit. It was intended to provide data for improvement of models
of Earth's gravitational and magnetic fields. It carried a GPS receiver,
a triaxial accelerometer, vector (fluxgate) and scalar magnetometers, and
a digital ion drift meter for electric field determination. GPS
occultation and sounding measurements contributed to atmospheric and
ionospheric profiles. The mission continues to operate as of January, 2010.
The science and data activities of the mission are managed by the
GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ; German Research Center for Geosciences) in
Potsdam.