The SunRISE mission stands for, Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment, where NASA will use six CubeSat nanosatellites to create a large radio telescope. Each satellite is around the size of a toaster oven and will be solar powered, according to a press release from NASA announcing the mission.
The goal is to launch the SunRISE mission “by no earlier than July 1, 2023” with $62.6 million toward funding the design, build, and launch. NASA originally took interest in the project as a concept study when they approved it in August 2017. This later led to an extension and interest in studying the solar storms further under principal investigator, Justin Kasper.
“We are so pleased to add a new mission to our fleet of spacecraft that help us better understand the Sun, as well as how our star influences the space environment between planets,” Nicky Fox, director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division said. “The more we know about how the Sun erupts with space weather events, the more we can mitigate their effects on spacecraft and astronauts.”
Kasper and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory will work together in managing SunRISE to study solar radiation bursts. All six CubeSat satellites will fly within six miles of each other above the Earth’s atmosphere to create 3D maps of each particle burst.
The SunRISE team proposed entering space by working with space technology company, Maxar Technologies. Each CubeSat would hitch a ride on a commercial satellite and break off once in orbit.
This entire mission and concept are possible due to NASA’s Explorers Program which focuses on providing low-cost access to space. A list of Explorer spacecraft launches as far back as 1958 are available here.
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Scientists are consistently discovering more about space, including 139 planets near our solar system and even a way to deflect asteroids if we one day need too. Astronomers also discovered a mini-moon that has been orbiting Earth for over three years.
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Jeffrey Lerman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @Snakester95.