Sensor · Spaceborne

Swarm Vector Field Magnetometer

Compiled from public sources on 2026-06-08. Not independently verified by Technical University of Denmark.

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Data products → Swarm Level 2 Magnetic Field Models (L2)

Triaxial fluxgate vector magnetometer flown on ESA Swarm Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie for geomagnetic field-vector measurements.

Sensor

The Swarm Vector Field Magnetometer is the vector magnetic-field instrument on each ESA Swarm spacecraft.^[1] The instrument uses a triaxial fluxgate configuration with a dynamic range of plus or minus 65536 nT and 20 ms sampling, producing field-vector observations for the Swarm magnetic mission stack.^[2]

VFM was developed and manufactured at the Technical University of Denmark.^[1] On Swarm Alpha, the VFM payload status was active as of 2 February 2026.^[3] The instrument implements satellite magnetometry when paired with ASM scalar calibration data on the same spacecraft.

Where this fits, supply chain

Compositional position

Swarm ——— this payload

this ——— Swarm (Operational) flies on

this ——— Swarm Level 2 Magnetic Field Models (L2) produces

Methods this sensor implements

Demonstrated

Satellite magnetometryvia Swarm
VFM is the Swarm vector magnetic-field instrument and implements satellite magnetometry as part of the mission magnetic package.

Capable, undemonstrated

None on record.

Topics this relates to

Geology and geohazards Satellite magnetometry(demonstrated)marginal

Mineral exploration Satellite magnetometry(demonstrated)marginal

Sources

[1]Swarm new generation of sensors, ESAagency doc2026-06-08
[2]WMO OSCAR VFM instrument detailsagency doc2026-06-08
[3]WMO OSCAR SWARM-A satellite payload statusagency doc2026-06-08

Cite https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/swarm-vector-field-magnetometer Markdown twin → Field definitions →