Solar Orbiter

Solar Orbiter
spacecraft in front of the Sun
Artist's impression of the Solar Orbiter orbiting the Sun
Mission typeHeliophysics
OperatorESA / NASA
COSPAR ID2020-010A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.45167
Websitewww.esa.int
Mission duration7 years (nominal)
+ 3 years (extended)[1][2]
Elapsed: 4 years, 9 months and 1 day
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerAirbus Defence and Space
Launch mass1,800 kg (4,000 lb)[3]
Payload mass209 kg (461 lb)[4]
Dimensions2.5 × 3.1 × 2.7 m (8 × 10 × 9 ft)[3]
Power180 watts[3]
Start of mission
Launch date10 February 2020, 04:03 UTC[5]
RocketAtlas V 411 (AV-087)[6]
Launch siteCape Canaveral, SLC-41
ContractorUnited Launch Alliance
Entered serviceNovember 2021
(start of main mission)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemHeliocentric
RegimeElliptic orbit
Perihelion altitude0.28 au[6]
Aphelion altitude0.91 au
Inclination24° (nominal mission)
33° (extended mission)
Period168 days
Epoch?
Main
TypeRitchey–Chrétien reflector
Diameter160 mm
Focal length2.5 m
WavelengthsVisible light, ultraviolet, X-rays

Insignia for the Solar Orbiter mission.
← CHEOPS
Euclid →
← Parker

The Solar Orbiter (SolO)[7] is a Sun-observing probe developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) with a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contribution. Solar Orbiter, designed to obtain detailed measurements of the inner heliosphere and the nascent solar wind, will also perform close observations of the polar regions of the Sun which is difficult to do from Earth. These observations are important in investigating how the Sun creates and controls its heliosphere.

SolO makes observations of the Sun from an eccentric orbit moving as close as ≈60 solar radii (RS), or 0.284 astronomical units (au), placing it inside Mercury's perihelion of 0.3075 au.[8] During the mission the orbital inclination will be raised to about 24°. The total mission cost is US$1.5 billion, counting both ESA and NASA contributions.[9]

SolO was launched on 10 February 2020 from Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA). The nominal mission is planned until the end of 2026, with a potential extension until 2030.

A comparison of the size of the Sun as seen from Earth (left, 1 au) and from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft (0.284 au, right)
The Solar Orbiter structural thermal model shortly before leaving the Airbus Defence and Space facility in Stevenage, UK
  1. ^ "ESA Science & Technology – Spacecraft". sci.esa.int. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Solar Orbiter Mission". ESA eoPortal. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "Solar Orbiter factsheet". esa.int. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  4. ^ "ESA Science & Technology – Instruments". sci.esa.int. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now". spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b "NASA – NSSDCA – Spacecraft – Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov.
  7. ^ Solar Orbiter (SolO). Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP). Accessed on 18 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Kiepenheuer-Institut fuer Sonnenphysik: SolarOrbiter PHI-ISS". Kis.uni-freiburg.de. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Atlas launches Solar Orbiter mission". SpaceNews. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2022.