The project objective is the design, construction and qualification of a high technology instrument to measure the composition of Cosmic Rays trapped in the Van Allen belts and to monitor their time stability. In addition the project aims to the study and measurement of solar, cosmic, seismic, meteorogical and anthropic phenomena that could induce iono-magnetospheric perturbations. This instrument includes an energetic Particle Tracker (TP), an electric field detector (EFD) and a magnetic field detector (MFD). Simultaneous detection of particles flux variations, as well as of electric and magnetic fields fluctuations, will allow a detailed investigation of the short term instability of trapped particles, more specifically of these particles which are localized in phase space zones near the loss cone. Thanks to the simultaneous measurement of both the electric and magnetic field, these flux variations could be related with perturbations of the electric and magnetic field of the Earth.

Such an instrument, placed in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO), would allow the following measurements:

1- elemental composition up to Z values of the order of 26 (Fe);
2- isotopic composition of light ions (He, Li, B);
3- leptonic component (electrons and positrons);
4- measurement and monitoring of ionospheric plasma perturbations on manned and unmanned spacecrafts on LEO;
5- study of electromagnetic emissions of terrestrial origin associated with natural calamities (e.g. earthquakes, volcanic eruptions);
6- study of perturbations induced by electromagnetic emissions of anthropic origin (e.g. transmission lines, radio and TV transmitters);
7- analysis of the interactions atmosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere during storm activity with light and gamma emissions and electromagnetic instabilities. The first three items represent classical measurements on Cosmic Ray Physics and on the study of the Van Allen belt composition. The other four items are important in the study of the belt dynamics and their time modification.

The study of correlation of these instabilities with effects of terrestrial origin, both of natural kind (perturbations generated in the atmosphere or of seismic origin) and of anthropic origin (electromagnetic emissions) are part of the study which can be performed with this instrument.

The TP detector will include a silicon microstrip tracker, that, besides the measurement of the electric charge Z, will allow the determination of the direction of propagation of Cosmic Rays with energies above MeV with a precision better than two degrees, allowing the study of the time stability of the distribution of the angle between the particle direction of propagation and the magnetic field (pitch angle). The trigger system of the instrument will be provided by scintillator planes.The separation between protons and electrons, very important for the study of perturbations in the Van Allen belts, will be achieved with a threshold Čerenkov detector and a lead-scintillator microcalorimeter. In this configuration, a clean separation between electrons and positrons in the energy interval between 1 and 100 MeV will be achievable.

The EFD detector will operate in the frequency interval between about DC and 5 MHz, with an accuracy of 350 nV/m and a dynamic range of 130 dB. The MFD detector foresees a Flux Gate with an accuracy of 3 pT in the DC interval up to 10 Hz and a Search Coil in the interval 10 Hz-100 kHz. This instrument will be designed and build meeting the interface requirements of the MS-1 microsatellite build by CASC (Chinese Aero Space Corporation), the most important Chinese Institute for satellites, space platforms and microsatellites. The coordinator of this project and CASC have subscribed in spring 2005 a preliminary collaboration agreement aiming to the design and construction of a space mission devoted to the space born study of those phenomena induced in the ionosphere by geophysical sources. This agreement includes the design and development of the payload by the Italian partners, while the launch and the mission management are in charge of Chinese partners.