| Names | Explorer PUNCH SMEX |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Heliophysics |
| Operator | NASA |
| Website | punch |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | PUNCH |
| Spacecraft type | Orbiters (4) |
| Bus | Custom bus, with heritage from CYGNSS |
| Manufacturer | Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) |
| Launch mass | 40 kg (each) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 27 February 2025 (planned)[1] |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 |
| Launch site | Vandenberg SFB, SLC-4E |
| Contractor | SpaceX |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous orbit |
| Altitude | 570 km[2] |
| Instruments | |
| Narrow Field Imager (NFI) - 1 satellite Wide Field Imagers (WFIs) - 3 satellites | |
Explorer program | |
Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) is a future mission by NASA to study the unexplored region from the middle of the solar corona out to 1 AU from the Sun. PUNCH will consist of a constellation of four microsatellites that through continuous 3D deep-field imaging, will observe the corona and heliosphere as elements of a single, connected system. The four microsatellites were initially scheduled to be launched in October 2023, but they have since been moved to a launch in rideshare with SPHEREx,[3] scheduled for 27 February 2025.[1]
On 20 June 2019, NASA announced that PUNCH and TRACERS were the winning candidates to become the next missions in the agency's Small Explorer program (SMEX).[4]
PUNCH is led by Craig Edward DeForest at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado. Including launch costs, PUNCH is being funded for no more than US$165 million.[4]
- ^ a b "Upcoming Missions". NASA Launch Services Program. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ NASA selects PUNCH, a new mission to study the Sun Korey Haynes, Astronomy Now, 21 June 2019
- ^ Interrante, Abbey (3 August 2022). "PUNCH Announces Rideshare with SPHEREx and New Launch Date". NASA. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ^ a b NASA Selects Missions to Study Our Sun, Its Effects on Space Weather NASA, 20 June 2019
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
