SULIS mission looks to shed light on solar storms

The ambitious plans were laid out at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Lancaster. Providing funding is secured, the mission will see three pairs of CubeSats sent into different orbits around the Sun. The ‘lead’ satellite in each pair will block out the bulk of solar light with a 90cm diameter occulter, creating a type of permanent eclipse for the satellite 100m behind it. This will enable the trailing satellite to study the Sun’s faint coronal light, or coronagraph, for each pair's projected five-year operational lifespan.

One pair of CubeSats will match Earth’s orbit of the Sun at Lagrange Point 1 (L1), with the second pair ahead of that orbit (L4) and the last pair trailing it (L5). This will provide a 3D picture of the Sun’s corona, enabling SULIS (Solar cUbesats for Linked Imaging Spectropolarimetry) to observe solar storms and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Although we know little about what drives it, space weather has the capacity to cause widespread damage on Earth, knocking out GPS, mobile communications, radio, satellites and power grids.