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Limadou

Questo progetto fa parte della serie Plasma physics and space weather

CAESAR SVIRCO Limadou CUSP progetto

In detail

The second satellite in the CSES (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite) series, named CSES-02, is scheduled to be launched on 11 June 2025. 

This mission, a collaboration between the Chinese Space Agency (CNSA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), will operate in Earth orbit in constellation with CSES-01, launched in 2018 and still operational.

The mission is aimed at studying electromagnetic, ionospheric and magnetospheric phenomena associated with earthquakes, looking for possible spatio-temporal correlations with the occurrence of strong seismic events. The mission also studies atmospheric phenomena related to other geophysical and space weather activities, such as geomagnetic storms and high-energy solar particles. 

CSES-02 will be placed in an orbit at an altitude of about 500 km, similar to CSES-01, operating in tandem with the latter, allowing for faster and greater geographical coverage.


The scientific instrumentation of CSES-02 shares the philosophy of CSES-01, but with some significant novelties, with a total of eleven main instruments on board, dedicated to different physical measurements. Italy, in particular, directly produced two of the instruments on board: HEPD-02 the high-energy particle detector and EFD-02 for measuring the electric field.

The Italian participation in the CSES missions, called the Limadou Collaboration, is coordinated by the INFN and involves numerous research organisations (INAF, INGV, CNR) and national universities, thanks to the support of the Italian Space Agency.

The name Limadou recalls Matteo Ricci, the Italian Jesuit who in the 16th century was among the first to create a cultural bridge between Italy and China (his name in Chinese was Li Ma Dou).


Below are the main actors and their respective roles:

  • Italian Space Agency (ASI) - Responsible for coordination with the Chinese CNSA. ASI finances the project through bilateral agreements and manages the acquisition and distribution of scientific data through its Space Science Data Centre (SSDC).

  • National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) - ASI's main technical-scientific partner in the CSES project. It is responsible for the design, implementation and testing of HEPD-02 and, in collaboration with INAF, of the new EFD-02.

  • National Institute of Astrophysics - via IAPS/INAF (Rome)  
    It collaborated with INFN in the development and testing of the EFD-02 detector, and is responsible for data analysis and scientific interpretation of ionospheric and magnetospheric data, drawing on his astrophysical experience in satellite observations of solar and astrophysical phenomena.

  • National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) - Contributes its expertise in the domain of seismic and geomagnetic phenomena. INGV participates in data analysis and the development of physical models.

  • National Research Council - IFAC/CNR - The CNR collaborated in the instrumental development and testing of HEPD-02.

  • Universities and other research bodies - Several Italian universities are an integral part of the Limadou collaboration, providing research teams and specific expertise. In particular, the University of Bologna, the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, the University of Turin, and the University of Trento participate both in hardware development (in synergy with local INFN sections) and in scientific data analysis and modelling of observed geophysical phenomena. The International Telematic University UniNettuno is also involved, contributing to data analysis and specialised training projects within the CSES programme.



Italy, through the Limadou collaboration formed by ASI, INFN, INAF, CNR, INGV together with various universities, developed and tested two of the eleven instruments on board:

HEPD-02 high-energy particle detector. This instrument is designed to measure particle fluxes with great precision, allowing the mission to investigate the emission and movement of particles around the Earth, providing a complete picture from low to high energy.

EFD-02 for measuring the electric field. This second generation instrument has significant technical improvements over its predecessors, allowing CSES-02 to obtain higher quality data and address scientific questions left open after the first mission.

CSES-01 has produced significant scientific results in two main areas: geophysical and seismic phenomena, and cosmic ray and space weather physics.

In the first area, one of the most relevant contributions was the development of a model describing the coupling between the lithosphere, atmosphere and ionosphere during seismic events. The data collected by CSES-01 confirmed that acoustic-gravitational waves generated by strong earthquakes and volcanic explosions can propagate to the ionosphere, causing changes in ionospheric parameters a few minutes after the earthquake. Although no clear and repeatable seismic precursors have been identified, the mission has explored this possibility thoroughly, suggesting that if such effects exist, they may be very weak or rare, requiring more sensitive instruments such as HEPD-02. Among the geophysical events observed, the eruption of the Hunga Tonga submarine volcano in January 2022 showed oscillations in the low-frequency electric and magnetic field, confirming the ability of CSES satellites to monitor global atmospheric and ionospheric disturbances caused by extreme events.


In the context of cosmic-ray physics and space weather, CSES-01 extended the observation of low-energy cosmic rays in low orbit, in particular by recording cosmic proton fluxes during the solar minimum (2018-2022), allowing comparisons with heliospheric propagation models and data from other missions (such as PAMELA and AMS-02). The mission also documented extreme solar events, such as the Ground Level Enhancement (GLE) of 28 October 2021, providing valuable information on the propagation of solar particles and their interaction with the Earth's magnetic field. CSES-01 also explored wave-particle interaction in the Van Allen belts, observing how geomagnetic storms and terrestrial sources, such as low-frequency radio (VLF) transmitters, influence the content of trapped particles. A peculiar result was the detection of artificial radiation belts induced by terrestrial VLF emissions and the identification of lightning-induced electronic precipitation on a global scale. In addition, CSES-01 explored the influence of extreme astrophysical phenomena, such as gamma-ray bursts, by detecting associated ionospheric perturbations, thus demonstrating the mission's sensitivity to events of astrophysical origin.

Facility collegate

Plasma Chamber