High-precision electrostatic accelerometers have achieved remarkable success in satellite Earth gravity field recovery missions. Ultralow-noise inertial sensors play important roles in space gravitational wave detection missions such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, and key technologies have been verified in the LISA Pathfinder mission. Meanwhile, at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST, China), a space accelerometer and inertial sensor based on capacitive sensors and the electrostatic control technique have also been studied and developed independently for more than 16 years. In this paper, we review the operational principle, application, and requirements of the electrostatic accelerometer and inertial sensor in different space missions. The development and progress of a space electrostatic accelerometer at HUST, including ground investigation and space verification are presented.

The moving-base gravimeter is one of the key instruments used for Earth gravity survey. The accuracy of the survey data is closely related to the calibration precision of several key parameters, such as the damping delay time, the drift coefficient, the gravity scale factor, and the measurement accuracy. This paper will introduce the development of the CHZ-II gravimeter system in which a cylindrical sampling mass suspended vertically by a zero-length spring acts as a sensitive probe to measure specific force. Meanwhile, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) positioning system is employed to monitor the carrier motion and to remove the inertia acceleration. In order to achieve high-precision calibrations for the key parameters, a new calibration method performed along forward and reverse overlapping lines is proposed, which is used to calibrate the above parameters and to estimate the measurement accuracy of the instrument used for a normal gravity survey. The calibration principle and the shipboard calibration data processing method are introduced. The calibration was performed for three moving-base gravimeters and the corresponding results are determined, indicating that the method can significantly improve the accuracy of the parameters. For the CHZ-II gravimeter, the measurement accuracy of the survey is 0.471 mGal (1 mGal = 10⁻⁵ m/s²), which improved by 19.5% after applying the calibrated parameters. This method is also practical for use with aviation, marine and even vehicle-carried moving-base gravimeters.

In recent years, cold gas thrusters have been successfully deployed in numerous missions, showcasing their exceptional reliability and enabling ultra-precise space operations across a broad thrust range. This article introduces an integrated cold gas thruster that integrates flow, pressure, and displacement sensors. The thrust range of this thruster can exceed 1000 μN at most, and the resolution can reach up to 0.1 μN at low thrust. The results of the high-precision displacement sensor are good, showing that the thruster performs well in terms of flow control accuracy and thrust output sensitivity. The measurement accuracy of the force frame itself is also excellent, and it can detect small thrust changes of 0.1 μN. The thrust noise level of the thruster is good, comparable to the standard noise levels of the experimental environment.