Team’s at STFC’s RAL Space based at Harwell Campus have played a crucial role in a pioneering NASA mission launching this week. The mission is set to transform our understanding of the Sun’s atmosphere and space weather.

A new NASA mission featuring UK-build technology is targeted to launch no earlier than early March 1, 2025, to explore how the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the solar wind) evolves.

Selected by NASA, the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and heliosphere (PUNCH) mission will use four spacecraft to build 3D maps of the solar wind structure and contribute to efforts improving space weather forecasting. Led by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in the US, the PUNCH consortium brings together world-leading expertise, including from UK-based teams at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

UK Camera Systems Packing a PUNCH

Scientists, engineers and technicians at STFC’s RAL Space in Oxfordshire have been instrumental in the development of the four suitcase-sized PUNCH satellites.

As well as contributing to the mission’s scientific goals, RAL Space teams have designed, developed, and manufactured the systems for four visible-light cameras that will capture a new perspective of evolving solar wind.

Once the spacecrafts are in orbit, the team at RAL Space will also enact their role as the mission’s in-flight calibration lead. Maximum science return from the mission relies on the combination of data from its four satellites, so ensuring accurate calibration is paramount.

Dr Jackie Davies, UK Science Lead for PUNCH at STFC RAL Space, said:

“The PUNCH design builds on RAL Space’s extensive heritage in leading, and contributing to, solar and solar wind imaging instruments, including our contributions to NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission. We’re thrilled to be working alongside SwRI, NASA and the US Naval Research Laboratory on this pioneering project and can’t wait to see what new insights our technological and scientific input will reveal in the coming months.”

Cutting Edge Technology to Track Solar Wind

Three of the four spacecraft will carry Wide Field Imagers to track the solar wind as it moved away from the Sun, while the fourth will feature a Narrow Field Imager to continuously image the corona. Each imager will be equipped with a camera with electronics systems developed by RAL Space.

This technique will allow scientists to make a 3D map of features throughout the inner solar system, enabling them to determine the trajectory and speed of coronal mass ejections – bursts of solar plasma that can disrupt technology on Earth.

Radiation-Resistant Technology

PUNCH’s imaging systems also incorporate specialised radiation-resistant chips designed by STFC’s Technology Department. Based on chips originally developed for STEREO, these components represent a major advance in space technology. Unlike commercial off-the-shelf electronics, the structure of these chips is designed for the harsh conditions of space, immunising them against the typical electronic faults caused by cosmic radiation. This resistance to radiation will extend the mission’s lifespan and improve data quality.

Dr Nick Waltham, Technology Research and Innovation Theme Lead at RAL Space said:

“Developing and testing the PUNCH camera systems has been an exciting endeavour for our team, made even more meaningful by the additional challenges we overcame during the COVID pandemic. This achievement is the result of years of dedication – building on a much longer heritage in similar missions – and the whole team should be incredibly proud as we prepare for launch. Their work will play a key role in advancing our understanding of this crucial area of space science.”

Image: Crews conduct a solar array deployment test on the spacecraft of NASA’s PUNCH satellites at Astrotech Space Operations on Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

Image credit: USSF 30th Space Wing / Alex Vadez