Solar Orbiter

The Project

Introduction

Links

ESA Solar Orbiter

ESA

RAL-Space Science

RAL-CCLRC

CDS

RSPWG

Welcome

On these pages you will find information and links relating to the ESA Solar Orbiter mission and, in particular, plans for the EUS (EUV Spectrometer) which is being proposed by a consortium led by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. For more information, please contact Professor Richard A. Harrison at r.harrison@rl.ac.uk.

Milestones

- Solar Orbiter was selected by ESA in Oct 2000, and was re-confirmed as part of the ESA programme after the re-evaluation of the ESA missions in 2003. After a period of industrial studies and inputs from the Payload Working Group and Science Definition Team we now anticipate a launch in 2015 - subject to confirmation by SPC. We expect invitations for Statements of Intent to Propose in mid-2006 with the AO in the first half of 2007.
- The Solar Orbiter Remote Sensing Payload Working Group (chaired by Richard Harrison) reported to ESA in June 2003, with a document detailing the instrument concepts, the mission feasibility and critical issues. This work has continued in the form of an advisory exercise to the industrial studies.
- The EUS consortium has met 6 times. Presentations from these meetings are found in the 'meetings' list.
- At the 2006 consortium meeting it was decided that to provide a scientific driver for the optimisation of the instrument design and operation the community should design observation schemes which define instrument requirements to be fed into the hardware activity - these Science Cases have now been submitted and will be reviewed by the EUS Science Working Group.

EUS Documents