The equivalence principle is an important theory in Einstein’s general theory of relativity. In a gravitational field with the same acceleration, the gravitational mass and inertial mass are equal. Equivalence principle includes weak equivalence principle and strong equivalence principle. Weak equivalence means that the observer cannot distinguish the inertial force produced by acceleration or the gravitational force produced by the object in a local area. The MICROSCOPE satellite launched by CNES in April 2016 uses its onboard accelerometer to measure the mass of materials and test the weak equivalence principle. In 2017, researchers published preliminary results based on satellite data, confirming the equivalence principle with 10 times the accuracy of previous experiments. Now that the researchers have published their final results , the equivalence principle still holds true with nearly an order of magnitude improvement in accuracy. The research team plans to launch new satellites in the 2030s to further improve the measurement accuracy.
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