Development of a strontium optical lattice clock for the SOC mission on the ISS

Understand

Ultra-precise optical clocks in space will allow new studies in fundamental physics and astronomy.

• Within an European Space Agency (ESA) program, the Space Optical Clocks (SOC) project aims to install and to operate an optical lattice clock on the International Space Station (ISS) towards the end of this decade.
• It would be a natural follow-on to the ACES mission, improving its performance by at least one order of magnitude.
• The payload is planned to include an optical lattice clock, as well as a frequency comb, a microwave link, and an optical link for comparisons of the ISS clock with ground clocks located in several countries and continents.