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Vigil

Overview

The primary goal of ESA’s Vigil mission is to enable improved space weather services by improving forecasts of the arrival of space weather phenomena at Earth. This will be achieved through real-time monitoring of the Sun and solar wind from the unique Lagrange L5 vantage point. The Lagrange payload comprises a suite of remote-sensing instruments, which includes a solar magnetograph, an Extreme Ultraviolet Imager, a coronagraph, and a heliospheric imager, alongside set of two in-situ instruments, a solar wind analyser and a magnetometer.

RAL Space involvement

During Phase A/B1, RAL Space led the remote-sensing instrument package, as well as leading the coronagraph and heliospheric imager thereon. RAL Space is still involved in the heliospheric imager development, with responsibility for image simulation for the end-to-end simulator and in-flight calibration/validation. RAL Space also leads the Vigil Payload Advisory Group.
Focus
Solar and space physics
Earliest Launch Date
2031
Partners
ESA; Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UK - leading in-situ instrument package; Airbus Defence and Space, UK - leading system study.

Artists impression space weather reporter Vigil in deep space Credit: ESA

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