As India launched its first solar mission successfully on September 2 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, we take a look at the solar missions launched by various space agencies in the world.
This mission was launched by NASA in October 2006. It consists of two spacecraft, STEREO-A and STEREO-B, which are positioned ahead of and behind the Earth in orbit around the Sun. The space agency lost connection with STEREO-B on October 1, 2014 however, STEREO-A continues to work properly.
This was launched by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in September 2006. This was a follow up mission after Japan’s YOHKOH (Solar-A) mission in 1991.
This was also a NASA mission that was launched in February 2010 to observe the Sun and study how solar activity drives space weather. It conducts experiments to understand the sun’s magnetic field, solar activity, and its influence on space weather.
Aditya-L1 consists of a total of seven payloads on-board with four of them carrying out remote sensing of the Sun and three of them carrying in-situ observations.
It is a joint mission by ESA and NASA that was launched in February 2020. Solar Orbiter’s main objective is to study the Sun’s polar regions and the solar wind to understand the Sun-Earth connection.
Another NASA’s solar mission was launched in August 2018 to approach the Sun closer than any previous mission. Parker Solar Probe was placed within 3.9 million miles (6.2 million kilometres) closer to the Sun, making it the first mission ever to do so.