SOLAR-C Project Team launched in JAXA

Release: Mar. 1, 2024

JAXA has launched the SOLAR-C Project Team on March 1, 2024, to develop the SOLAR-C satellite for the launch in FY2028. The team will keep you updated on the development status through the website and various other opportunities.

Message

SOLAR-C has been designed based on the results of solar sciences such as by HINODE (SOLAR-B), and is a satellite that will perform unprecedented high-performance solar observations. The Sun is a celestial body that is closely related to our everyday life. This mission aims to deepen our understanding of how the solar corona and flares are generated on this star and to explore the origin of the solar system and life by elucidating the effects of the Sun on the Earth and the solar system, and the formation of the solar atmospheres. Japan, which has a history of solar observations with high-precision telescopes, will lead the mission and realize the world’s first ultraviolet telescope with this performance under the international cooperation of the United States and European partners.

SOLAR-C completed a system definition review to confirm the satellite system in December 2023, and a project transition review to confirm the project plan in February 2024. It has taken more than five years since the proposal was submitted to ISAS, but the project has finally entered the implementation phase. JAXA has already begun development of the onboard telescope and satellite system in cooperation with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The development of the SOLAR-C telescope is also underway in the U.S. and Europe with the support of their respective space agencies (NASA, ESA, ASI, CNES, and DLR).
The official name of the project is the “High-sensitivity Solar Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Satellite,” but we are happy if you call it “SOLAR-C,” which is a continuation of the traditional name of the ISAS scientific satellite series.
As the leader of the team, I am committed to the success of SOLAR-C and I appreciate your support.

Toshifumi Shimizu, Project Manager