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Cluster II

Overview

Cluster II is an ESA mission to study the Earth's magnetosphere and the way in which the solar wind affects the Earth. It consists of four identical spacecraft orbiting in a tetrahedral formation.

RAL Space involvement

For 24 years RAL Space led the Joint Science Operations Centre for the Cluster II mission, planning and executing all science operations for the spacecraft. RAL Space also led the UK Cluster data Centre and conducted research with the Adaptive Particle Imaging Detectors and the Plasma Electron And Current Experiment (PEACE) instrument.

Launch Date

August 2000

Mission End

September 2024

Focus

Solar and space physics

Partners

ESA, NASA

Cluster II spacecraft flying in formation above the Earth.

Cluster II spacecraft flying in formation above the Earth. Credit: ESA

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