A preliminary design of the STE-QUEST spacecraft has been proposed following an ESA study of the mission carried out at the Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) at ESTEC, the Netherlands.

The STE-QUEST spacecraft is expected to weigh about 1400 kilograms at launch, making it compatible with launch on a Soyuz vehicle.

The payload, including the main STE-QUEST instruments and subsystems,would be housed in a cylinder integrated along the spacecraft axis. The external structure would also be used to accommodate the microwave antennas and the 2 laser terminals needed for the operation of the optical and microwave links. Two solar arrays located symmetrically with respect to the spacecraft body would power the spacecraft.

Preliminary STE-QUEST spacecraft design, produced in the frame of the ESA CDF study. (Left) Body of the spacecraft with its solar arrays (in blue) stowed for launch. (Right) Detail of the STE-QUEST payload. Credit: ESA