ESA/NASA · solar mission active
Solar Orbiter
Solar Orbiter, led by ESA with NASA, images the Sun from close range and from a tilted orbit that reveals its poles.
- Launch
- 10 February 2020
- Distance from Earth today
- 105.6 million km0.706 AU · light: 5 min 52 s
- Distance from the Sun today
- 133.3 million km0.891 AU
Live distance from Earth and chart →
Trajectory
Trajectory: JPL Horizons vectors (spacecraft -144) every 3 days, projected onto the ecliptic; compressed distance scale.
Mission timeline
- Launch on an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral
- First Venus gravity assist
- Earth flyby ends the cruise phase
- Venus flyby tilts the orbit out of the ecliptic
- Planned Venus flyby to raise the inclination further
Targets: Sun, Venus
About the mission
Solar Orbiter combines telescopes that photograph the Sun with sensors that sample the solar wind flowing past the spacecraft, so scientists can trace particles back to where they came from. At its closest it comes inside the orbit of Mercury, sheltered behind a heat shield with small doors for its cameras. Repeated Venus flybys steadily tilt its orbit, and after the February 2025 encounter it began to see the Sun's polar regions, which are hidden from Earth. Further Venus passes planned up to 2030 will raise that viewpoint even higher.
Sources
- esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Solar_Orbiter
- science.nasa.gov/mission/solar-orbiter/
- ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND=%27-144%27&OBJ_DATA=%27YES%27&MAKE_EPHEM=%27NO%27
- esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2020/12/Solar_Orbiter_flyby_of_Venus
- Trajectory: JPL Horizons (public domain)