Due to launch in February 2020, the Solar Orbiter will perform unprecedented close-up observations of the Sun. This will allow scientists to study the Sun in much more detail than previously possible and observe specific features for longer periods of time than can be achieved by any spacecraft circling Earth. In addition, the Solar Orbiter will measure the solar wind close to the Sun and provide high-resolution images of the Sun’s unexplored polar regions.

The journey of the Solar Orbit around the Sun.

The UK is at the centre of this European space Agency (ESA) mission to uncover the secrets of our planet’s star. The UK plays a key industrial role in the construction and operation of spacecraft and has won contracts worth £ 200 million, while the UK Space Agency has invested £ 20 million in developing and building the instruments and will continue to support them.

Science Minister Chris Skidmore said:

Solar Orbiter will carry 10 modern instruments. The remote sensing payload will perform high resolution imaging of the Sun’s atmosphere-the corona-as well as the solar disk. Other instruments will measure solar wind and solar magnetic fields in the vicinity of the Orbiter. This will give us unprecedented insight into how the Sun works, and how we can better predict periods of stormy space weather that are associated with coronal mass ejections (CEs) that the Sun throws toward Earth from time to time.

British scientists were instrumental in proposing the Solar Orbiter mission to ESA. The UK space Agency has allocated funds for four of the 10 scientific instruments, a set of spacecraft. Imperial College London, RAL space Council’s Science and technology facilities and UCL led international teams to design and build three tools, while UCL also contributed to the fourth.

Chris Lee, chief scientist at the UK Space Agency, said:

The Solar Orbiter, which will take just under two years to reach its initial operational orbit, will follow in the footsteps of NASA’s Solar Parker Probe, launched in 2018. The two missions will offer additional perspectives of the Sun-the Parker solar probe will travel through the Sun’s atmosphere, while the solar Orbiter will observe the surface.

Professor Chris Owen, principal investigator of the solar wind analysis instrument at UCL Mullard space science Laboratory, said:

We are leading an international consortium from the UK, Europe and the US to provide three sensors for the instrument on the Solar Orbiter so it can robotically “sniff” the solar wind, which is a steady outflow of charged particles from the Sun.

Helen o’brien (Solar Orbiter MAG instrument Manager at Imperial College London, said:

Ten years after offering our original design, we are delighted to have our magnetometer instrument aboard the Solar Orbiter going on its final ground journey. We’ve had to prove that our instrument can withstand vibration loads of up to 22g and heat loads between 900C and -1500, but now the payload and spacecraft are ready for final pre-launch training to explore a whole new region of space.

Dr Andrzej Fludra, lead spokesman for the SPICE consortium of RAL Space STFC, said:

The construction of SPICE was a great achievement for our international team led by RAL Space. For several years, engineers and scientists from the UK, France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, the US and ESA have worked closely together to define scientific requirements, design, build and test the instrument.

Airbus engineers designed and built the spacecraft to withstand the scorching heat from the Sun, which will hit one side while the other is frozen as the orbit keeps it in shadow. The design is based on ESA’s BepiColombo mission to mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, which was launched in 2018 with significant input from British engineers and scientists.

Ian Walters, Airbus Solar Orbiter project Manager, said:

The UK’s space sector is going from strength to strength, employing around 42,000 people and engaging in world-class science while growing the economy. The UK continues to be the leading member of ESA, which is independent of the EU.

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