This is a list of missions supporting heliophysics, including solar observatory missions, solar orbiters, and spacecraft studying the solar wind.
Past and current missions
| Spacecraft | Launch date | Operator | Orbit | Outcome | Remarks | Carrier rocket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explorer 10 | 25 March 1961 | NASA | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Deorbited 1 June 1968 | Thor DM-19 Delta |
| OSO 1 (OSO A) | 7 March 1962 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Deorbited 7 October 1981 | Thor-Delta |
| Ariel 1 | 26 April 1962 | SERC/NASA | low Earth | Success | Deorbited 24 May 1976 | Thor DM-19 Delta |
| Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (OGO) | 4 September 1964 | NASA | various geocentric | Success (mostly) | 6 satellites, last deorbited 29 August 2020 | Atlas Agena, Thor Agena |
| OSO 2 (OSO B2) | 3 February 1965 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Deorbited 8 August 1989 | Thor-Delta |
| OSO 3 (OSO E1) | 8 March 1967 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Observed solar flares from the Sun, as well as a flare from Scorpius X-1; Deorbited 4 April 1982 | Thor-Delta |
| OSO 4 (OSO D) | 18 October 1967 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Deorbited 14 June 1982 | Thor-Delta |
| OSO 5 (OSO F) | 22 January 1969 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Measured diffuse background X-ray radiation from 14-200 keV; Deorbited 2 April 1984 | Thor-Delta |
| OSO 6 (OSO G) | 9 August 1969 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Observed three instances of hard X-ray coincidences with gamma ray bursts; Deorbited 7 March 1981 | Thor-Delta |
| OSO 7 (OSO H) | 29 September 1971 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Observed solar flares in the gamma ray spectrum; Collected data allowed for identification of Vela X-1 as a High-mass X-ray binary; Deorbited 8 July 1974 | Thor-Delta |
| Prognoz 1 | 14 April 1972 | USSR | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study Solar activity | Soyuz |
| Prognoz 2 | 29 June 1972 | USSR | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study Solar activity | Soyuz |
| Skylab and the Apollo Telescope Mount | 14 May 1973 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Deorbited 11 July 1979 | Saturn INT-21 |
| Prognoz 3 | 15 February 1973 | USSR | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study Solar activity | Soyuz |
| Explorer 50 (IMP-8) | 26 October 1973 | NASA | high Earth | Success | Contact lost 7 October 2006 | Delta (1913) |
| Helios | 10 December 1974 | NASA / DFVLR | heliocentric | Success | 2 spacecraft, last contact 10 Feb 1986 | Titan IIIE/Star-37 |
| Taiyo (Solar Radiation and Thermospheric Satellite/Shinsei-3) | 24 February 1975 | ISAS | elliptical geocentric | Success | Solar X-ray, UV radiation, and ionosphere studies; Deorbited 29 June 1980 | M-3C |
| OSO 8 (OSO I) | 21 June 1975 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Found an iron emission line in the X-ray spectrum of a galaxy cluster; Deorbited 8 July 1986 | Thor-Delta |
| Prognoz 4 | 22 December 1975 | USSR | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study Solar radiation and Plasma, and Earth's magnetosphere | Soyuz |
| Prognoz 6 | 22 September 1977 | USSR | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study Solar radiation and Plasma, and Earth's magnetosphere | Soyuz |
| ISEE-1 | 22 October 1977 | NASA | high Earth | Success | Deorbited 26 September 1987 | Thor-Delta 2914 |
| ISEE-2 | 22 October 1977 | NASA | high Earth | Success | Deorbited 26 September 1987 | Thor-Delta 2914 |
| Prognoz 7 | 30 October 1978 | USSR | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study Solar radiation and Plasma, Earth's magnetosphere, UV, X-ray and Gamma ray astronomy; Carried Czechoslovakian, French, Hungarian and Swedish experiments | Soyuz |
| Voyager | 5 September 1977 | NASA | heliocentric to galactocentric | Operational | 2 spacecraft, both still in operation | Titan IIIE Centaur |
| International Cometary Explorer (ICE/ISEE-3) | 12 August 1978 | NASA | Earth-Sun L1 halo to heliocentric | Success | Contact lost 16 September 2014 | Thor-Delta 2914 |
| Prognoz 8 | 25 December 1980 | USSR | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study Solar radiation and Plasma, and Earth's magnetosphere; Carried Czechoslovakian, Polish and Swedish experiments | Soyuz |
| International Cometary Explorer (ICE) | 12 August 1978 | NASA | Earth-Sun L1 halo to heliocentric | Success | Contact lost 16 September 2014 | Delta 2914 |
| Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) | 14 February 1980 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Deorbited 2 December 1989 | Delta 3910 |
| Prognoz 9 | 1 July 1983 | USSR | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study Solar and cosmic radiation, Solar Plasma, Earth's magnetosphere and Gamma rays; Carried Czechoslovakian and French experiments | Soyuz |
| Prognoz 10 (Intershock) | 26 April 1985 | USSR | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study Solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere; Intercosmos 23; Carried Czechoslovakian experiments | Soyuz |
| Ulysses | 6 October 1990 | NASA/ESA | high-inclination heliocentric | Success | Decommissioned 30 June 2009 | Space Shuttle Discovery |
| Yohkoh (Solar-A) | 30 August 1991 | ISAS / NASA / PPARC | low Earth | Success | Deorbited 12 September 2005 | Mu-3S-II |
| Geotail | 24 July 1992 | ISAS/NASA | high Earth | Success | Deactivated 28 November 2022. | Delta II 6925 |
| Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) | 3 July 1992 | NASA/MPE | low Earth | Success | Deorbited 13 November 2012 | Scout G-1 |
| WIND | 1 November 1994 | NASA | Earth-Sun L1 halo | Operational | Delta II (7925–10) | |
| CORONAS-I | 1994 | Russia | low Earth | Success | 12 instruments | (launcher not specified) |
| Prognoz 11 (Interball Tail Probe) | 2 August 1995 | Russia | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study Solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere | Molniya |
| Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) | 2 December 1995 | ESA/NASA | Earth-Sun L1 halo | Operational | Atlas IIAS | |
| Prognoz 12 (Interball Auroral Probe) | 29 August 1996 | Russia | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Study aurora | Molniya |
| Polar | 24 February 1996 | NASA | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | Decommissioned 28 April 2008 | Delta II 7925-10 |
| Cluster | 4 June 1996 | ESA | highly elliptical geocentric | Failure at launch | 4 spacecraft | Ariane 5G |
| Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer (FAST) | 21 August 1996 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Decommissioned 4 May 2009 | Pegasus-XL |
| Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) | 25 August 1997 | NASA | Earth-Sun L1 Lissajous | Operational | Delta II 7920-8 | |
| Spartan 201 (STS-87) | 19 November 1997 | NASA | low Earth | Failure during deployment | Landed 5 December 1997 | Space Shuttle Columbia |
| Equator-S | 2 December 1997 | ISTP/MPE | geosynchronous transfer | Partial success(terminated early) | Contact lost 1 May 1998 | Ariane 4 (44P) |
| Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) | 1 April 1998 | NASA | low Earth (Sun-synchronous) | Success | Decommissioned 21 June 2010 | Pegasus-XL |
| Student Nitric Oxide Explorer (SNOE) | 26 February 1998 | LASP | low Earth | Success | Deorbited 13 December 2003 | Pegasus-XL |
| Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor Satellite (ACRIMSAT) | 20 December 1999 | NASA | low Earth (Sun-synchronous) | Success | Contact lost 14 December 2013 | Taurus 2110 |
| IMAGE | 25 March 2000 | NASA | high Earth | Success | Contact lost 18 December 2005 | Delta II 7326-9.5 |
| Cluster II | 16 July 2000 | ESA | high Earth | Success | 4 Spacecraft, replaced the original Cluster mission that failed on launch. | Soyuz-U/Fregat |
| Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) | 7 December 2001 | NASA | low Earth | Operational | Delta II 7920-10 | |
| CORONAS-F | 31 July 2001 | Russia | low Earth | Success | 16 instruments, worked until 2005 | (launcher not specified) |
| Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscope Imager (RHESSI) | 5 February 2002 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Decommissioned 16 August 2018 Deorbited 2023 | Pegasus-XL |
| Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) | 25 January 2003 | NASA/LASP | low Earth | Success | Decommissioned 25 February 2020 | Pegasus-XL |
| Double Star | 29 December 2003 | CNSA/ESA | highly elliptical geocentric | Operational | 2 spacecraft, one was deorbited 14 October 2007 the other remains in orbit | Long March 2C |
| PAMELA detector (located on Resurs-DK No.1) | 15 June 2006 | PAMELA group | low Earth | Success | Decommissioned 7 February 2016 | Soyuz-U |
| TWINS A & B (located on USA-184 and USA-200) | 28 June 2006 | NASA | highly elliptical geocentric (Molniya) | Success | 2 hosted payloads, decommissioned 2020 | Delta IV-M+(4,2), Atlas V 411 |
| Hinode (Solar-B) | 23 September 2006 | JAXA / NASA / PPARC | low Earth (Sun-synchronous) | Operational | M-V | |
| Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) | 25 October 2006 | NASA | heliocentric | Operational | 2 spacecraft, 1 still operational | Delta II 7925 |
| CORONAS-Photon | 30 January 2009 | Russia | low Earth | Failure | 11 instruments, failed after 10 months due to power supply problems | Tsyklon-3 |
| Space Technology 5 (ST5) | 22 March 2006 | NASA | low Earth (Sun-synchronous) | Success | 3 spacecraft, decommissioned 30 June 2006 | Pegasus-XL |
| Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) | 25 April 2007 | NASA | low Earth (Sun-synchronous) | Success | Pegasus-XL | |
| Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) | 17 February 2007 | NASA | various | Operational | 5 spacecraft | Delta II 7925-10C |
| Coupled Ion-Neutral Dynamics Investigations (CINDI) | 16 April 2008 | NASA | low Earth | Success | Deorbited 28 November 2015 | Pegasus-XL |
| IBEX | 19 October 2008 | NASA | high Earth | Operational | Pegasus-XL/Star-27 | |
| Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) | 11 February 2010 | NASA | geosynchronous | Operational | Atlas V 401 | |
| Van Allen Probesformerly Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) | 30 August 2012 | NASA | highly elliptical geocentric | Success | 2 spacecraft, decommissioned 2019 | Atlas V 401 |
| Balloon Array for Radiation-belt Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL) | January 2013 | NASA | atmospheric | Success | total of 63 flights, last launched 30 August 2016 | high-altitude balloons |
| Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) | 27 June 2013 | NASA | low Earth (Sun-synchronous) | Operational | Pegasus-XL | |
| Swarm | 22 November 2013 | ESA | low Earth | Operational | 3 spacecraft | Rokot / Briz-KM |
| Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) | 11 February 2015 | NASA/NOAA | Earth-Sun L1 Lissajous | Operational | Falcon 9 v1.1 | |
| Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) | 13 March 2015 | NASA | highly elliptical geocentric | Operational | 4 spacecraft | Atlas V 421 |
| Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) (aboard SES-14) | 26 January 2018 | NASA | geosynchronous | Operational | Ariane 5 ECA | |
| Parker Solar Probeformerly Solar Probe Plus | 12 August 2018 | NASA | heliocentric | Operational | Delta IV Heavy | |
| Space Environment Testbeds (on DSX) | 25 June 2019 | AFRL | medium Earth | Success | Decommissioned 31 May 2021 | Falcon Heavy |
| Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) | 11 October 2019 | SSL/NASA | low Earth | Success | Contact lost November 2022 | Pegasus-XL |
| Solar Orbiter | 10 February 2020 | ESA/NASA | 24°-inclination heliocentric | Operational | Atlas V 411 | |
| Aditya-L1 | 2 September 2023 | ISRO | Earth-Sun L1 Halo | Operational | PSLV-XL(C57) | |
| CubeSat Radio Interferometry Experiment (CURIE) | 9 July 2024 | NASA | low Earth | Operational | 2 spacecraft | Ariane 6 |
| PROBA-3 | 5 December 2024 | ESA | Highly elliptical orbit | Success | 2 spacecraft | PSLV-XL |
| PUNCH | 11 March 2025 | NASA | Sun-synchronous orbit | Operational | Falcon 9 | |
| EZIE | 14 March 2025 | NASA | Operational | Falcon 9 |
Proposed missions
| Spacecraft | Launch date | Operator | Orbit | Outcome | Remarks | Carrier rocket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SunRISE | 2024[needs update] | NASA | supersynchronous geosynchronous Earth orbit | Planned | 6 CubeSats2 | |
| TRACERS | April 2025 | NASA | Planned | 2 orbiters | Falcon 9 | |
| Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe | 2025 | NASA | L1 Lagrange point | Planned | 3 | |
| SMILE | 2025 | ESA/CAS | Highly elliptical orbit | Planned | Vega-C | |
| MUSE | 2027 | NASA | Planned | 4 | ||
| SOLAR-C | 2028 | JAXA | Planned | 5 | ||
| HelioSwarm | 2028 | NASA | Planned | nine spacecraft6 | ||
| Solar Polar Orbit Observatory | 2029 | CNSA | heliocentric polar orbiter | Planned | ||
| Vigil | 2031 | ESA | Earth-Sun L5 and L1 | Planned | 2 spacecraft | |
| Galileo Solar Space Telescope | INPE | Proposed |
Graphic
See also
External links
References
Heliophysics Research - NASA Archived 2016-08-28 at the Wayback Machine https://science.nasa.gov/about-us/smd-programs/heliophysics-research/ ↩
"SunRISE - NASA Science". science.nasa.gov. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2024. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/sunrise/ ↩
Foust, Jeff (22 December 2024). "NASA delays launch of heliophysics missions". SpaceNews. Retrieved 23 December 2024. https://spacenews.com/nasa-delays-launch-of-heliophysics-missions/ ↩
"New Sun Missions to Help NASA Better Understand Earth-Sun Environment - NASA". NASA. Retrieved 31 October 2024. https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/new-sun-missions-to-help-nasa-better-understand-earth-sun-environment/ ↩
Shimizu, Toshifumi (1 March 2024). "SOLAR-C Project Team launched in JAXA". SOLAR-C. Retrieved 3 March 2024. https://solar-c.nao.ac.jp/en/news/news20240301.html ↩
"New Sun Missions to Help NASA Better Understand Earth-Sun Environment - NASA". NASA. Retrieved 31 October 2024. https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/new-sun-missions-to-help-nasa-better-understand-earth-sun-environment/ ↩