Plasma Observatory

Plasma Observatory
OperatorESA
Websiteplasma-observatory.inaf.it
Mission duration3 years (planned)
Start of mission
Launch date2037 (planned)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric

Plasma Observatory is a proposed space mission under development by the European Space Agency (ESA) as a medium-class mission (M7) within the agency's Science programme.[1][2] Its purpose is to study how charged particles interact with Earth's magnetic field in order to improve the understanding of space weather.[3][4][5] The mission will consist of one mother spacecraft (MSC) carrying an advanced suite of instruments and six identical daughter spacecraft (DSC) with simpler instruments.[6][7][2] It builds on the legacy of the previous European mission Cluster.[8] It is expected to launch in 2037.[9][10][11]

Instruments

The Swedish Institute for Space Physics (IRF) leads the consortia developing the Electric Field Instrument (EFI) and Fields and Wave Processor (FWP) on MSC.[12] The mission's plasma wave analyser instrument is being developed by the Czech Institute of Atmospheric Physics with contributions from the Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of the Environment and Space in Orléans, France.[13][9] The PAFI instrument is being developed by Space Research Center of Polish Academy of Sciences.[14][15]

History

In November 2023, Plasma Observatory was selected as one of 3 candidates for the M7 mission[16] (M5 is EnVision; M6 was cancelled for budgetary reasons),[17][2] alongside the Mars orbiter M-MATISSE and the space telescope THESEUS.[18] It was recommended for implementation in June 2026 and its formal selection is expected in November 2026.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "ESA science missions get green light for new discoveries". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  2. ^ a b c Marín, Daniel (2023-11-10). "La futura misión científica M7 de la ESA". Eureka (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  3. ^ www.pageunderconstruction.co.uk. "European Space Agency recommends Plasma Observatory mission to be selected". QMUL Faculty of Science and Engineering - Research. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  4. ^ "Home - M7 public presentation - Cosmos". M7 public presentation. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  5. ^ UNVEILING UNIVERSAL PLASMA ENERGISATION AND TRANSPORT: THE NEED FOR A PLASMA OBSERVATORY
  6. ^ "Plasma Observatory: A Multi-Satellite Magnetospheric Mission". Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  7. ^ Srl, Cantieri Informatici. "Dottorato in ASTRONOMY, ASTROPHYSICS AND SPACE SCIENCE | Sapienza Università di Roma". phd.uniroma1.it. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  8. ^ astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris-PSL- Centre de recherche en astronomie et (2026-06-16). "The Paris Observatory - PSL welcomes the selection of the Plasma Observatory mission by ESA". Observatoire de Paris - PSL - Centre de recherche en astronomie et astrophysique. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  9. ^ a b "Czech Scientists to Develop Key Instruments for ESA's New Space Mission – Institute of Atmospheric Physics CAS". Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  10. ^ Le Contel, Olivier; Kretzschmar, Matthieu; Retino, Alessandro; Mehrez, Fatima; Jannet, Guillaume; Alison, Dominique; Revillet, Claire; Mirioni, Laurent; Agrapart, Clémence (2025-03-15). "The SCM instrument for the ESA Plasma Observatory mission". EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts. Bibcode:2025EGUGA..2716777L. doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu25-16777. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  11. ^ "Polish scientists join mission to study how solar wind shapes Earth's magnetic shield". Science in Poland. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  12. ^ modified, Last (2023-11-15). "IRF instruments for potential future mission to either Mars or Earth's Orbit". www.irf.se. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  13. ^ "Češi vyvinou přístroje pro zkoumání kosmického plazmatu". www.novinky.cz (in Czech). 2026-06-11. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  14. ^ "Instruments co-created by Polish scientists to study Earth's magnetosphere". Science in Poland. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  15. ^ "Spotkanie konsorcjum instrumentu PAFI projektowanego na misję ESA Plasma Observatory - CBK PAN". CBK PAN (in Polish). 2025-02-04. Archived from the original on 2025-11-07. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  16. ^ Michelagnoli, Marianna; Marcucci, Maria Federica; Retinò, Alessandro; Berthomier, Matthieu; Khotyaintsev, Yuri; Eriksson, Anders; Soucek, Jan; Johansson, Fredrik; Cipriani, Fabrice (2026-03-13). Preliminary analyses of Surface Charging effects for the Plasma Observatory (PMO) mission (Report). Copernicus Meetings. doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu26-19522.
  17. ^ "Leigh Fletcher (@LeighFletcher) on X". X (formerly Twitter). 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  18. ^ "Final three for ESA's next medium science mission". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
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