Inertial Sensing for Future Gravity Missions

The application of accelerometers for gravity missions is assessed within a system framework. Several questions concerning the accelerometer impact on the science performance are discussed. Is the accelerometer noise performance balanced with the performance of the SST-link me trology? Is its measurement range compatible with the system properties? How accurate must the sensor be placed with respect to the spacecraft center of mass? And finally, would it be po s sible to use the accelerometer test mass center of mass as reference point for the measurements rather than the spacecraft center of mass?