ESA contracts Astrium UK to build Solar Orbiter 26 April 2012 ESA has awarded the contract to build its next-generation Sun explorer to Astrium UK. Solar Orbiter will investigate how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere, the extended atmosphere of the Sun. Read more
Solar Orbiter is a mission dedicated to solar and heliospheric physics. It was selected as the first medium-class mission of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Programme. The programme outlines key scientific questions which need to be answered about the development of planets and the emergence of life, how the Solar System works, the origins of the Universe, and the fundamental physics at work in the Universe.
Solar Orbiter Announcement of Opportunity for Members of the SPICE Science Steering Committee 20 July 2012 This Announcement of Opportunity (AO) solicits proposals for members of the Solar Orbiter SPICE Science Steering Committee. The AO is open to scientist both in the ESA Member States and outside. The deadline for submission of proposals is 15 September 2012, 12:00 CEST. Read more
Solar Orbiter - Exploring the Sun–Heliosphere Connection
26 July 2013
The heliosphere represents a uniquely accessible domain of space, where fundamental physical processes common to solar, astrophysical and laboratory plasmas can be studied under conditions impossible to reproduce on Earth and unfeasible to observe from astronomical distances. Solar Orbiter, the first mission of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015 - 2025 programme, will address the central question of heliophysics: How does the Sun create and control the heliosphere? In this paper, we present the scientific goals of the mission and provide an overview of the mission implementation.
D. Müller, R.G. Marsden, O.C. St. Cyr, H.R. Gilbert for The Solar Orbiter Team, in Solar Phys (2013) 285:25-70; doi: 10.1007/s11207-012-0085-7 Read more
Solar Orbiter definition study report (Red Book) 25 July 2011 Reference: ESA/SRE(2011)14; Issue 1. This report, the so-called Red Book, presents an overview of the Solar Orbiter mission in its present state of advanced definition. Solar Orbiter is a medium-size (M-class) mission of the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme, and competes for one of the two launch slots foreseen in 2017 and 2018. Read more