Solar Orbiter

Solar Orbiter

Artist's impression of ESA’s Solar Orbiter
Mission type	Solar heliophysics orbiter
Operator	ESA & NASA
Website	sci.esa.int/solar-orbiter/
Mission duration	7 years (nominal) 10 years (extended)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Astrium UK
Launch mass	1,800 kg (4,000 lb)
Payload mass	~190 kg (420 lb)
Dimensions	2.5 m × 3 m (8.2 ft × 9.8 ft)
Power	1100 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	October 2018
Rocket	Atlas V 411
Launch site	Cape Canaveral SLC-41
Contractor	United Launch Alliance
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Heliocentric
Regime	Elliptic orbit
Perihelion	0.28 AU
Apohelion	0.8-0.9 AU
Inclination	0-34 degrees
Period	150 days
Epoch	planned
Main
Type	Ritchey–Chrétien reflector
Diameter	160 mm (6.3 in)
Focal length	2.5 m (8.2 ft)
Wavelengths	visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays
Instruments EPD Energetic Particle Detector EUI Extreme Ultraviolet Imager MAG Magnetometer METIS Coronagraph PHI Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager RPW Radio and Plasma Waves SoloHI Heliospheric Imager SPICE Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment STIX X-ray Spectrometer/Telescope SWPA Solar Wind Plasma Analyser
ESA solar system insignia for the Solar Orbiter mission Cosmic Vision ← CHEOPS Euclid →

ESA solar system insignia for the Solar Orbiter mission

Solar Orbiter (SolO) is a planned Sun-observing satellite, under development by the European Space Agency (ESA). The mission will be launched with an Atlas V from the Cape Canaveral AFS in Florida in October 2018. SolO is intended to perform detailed measurements of the inner heliosphere and nascent solar wind, and perform close observations of the polar regions of the Sun, which is difficult to do from Earth, both serving to answer the question 'How does the Sun create and control the heliosphere?'

The Solar Orbiter will make observations of the Sun from an eccentric orbit moving as close as ~60 solar radii (R_S), or 0.284 astronomical units (AU), placing it inside Mercury's perihelion of 0.3075 AU and providing it with the closest ever views of the Sun.

The spacecraft will make a close approach to the Sun every five months. Around closest approach Solar Orbiter will be positioned for several days over roughly the same region of the solar atmosphere like geostationary satellites are stationed over particular spots on the Earth's surface, so the spacecraft will seem to 'hover' for a while over the Sun. Solar Orbiter will therefore be able to watch magnetic activity building up in the atmosphere that can lead to powerful solar flare or eruptions.

Researchers will also have the chance to co-ordinate observations with NASA's planned Solar Probe Plus mission which will make in situ measurements in the Sun's extended corona.