Spacecraft & scientific payload
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft consists of the following elements:
- 3-axis stabilized platform based on reaction wheels and using chemical propulsion;
- solar arrays that can be rotated about their longitudinal axis to manage the cell temperature;
- articulated high-gain antenna in X-band;
- heat shield keeping in shadow the spacecraft body.
Scientific payload
| Instrument | PI | Country | Measurement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic Particle Detector | EPD | J. Rodríguez‑Pacheco | 
|
Composition, timing, and distribution functions of energetic particles |
| Magnetometer | MAG | T. Horbury | 
|
High-precision measurements of the heliospheric magnetic field |
| Radio and Plasma Waves | RPW | M. Maksimovic | 
|
Electromagnetic and electrostatic waves in the solar wind, magnetic and electric fields at high temporal resolution |
| Solar Wind Analyser | SWA | C. Owen |
|
Ion and electron bulk properties (including, density, velocity, and temperature) of the solar wind |
| Extreme Ultraviolet Imager | EUI | D. Berghmans | 
|
High-resolution and full-disk imaging of the solar atmospheric layers above the photosphere |
| Coronagraph | Metis | M. Romoli | 
|
Visible-light and ultraviolet imaging of the solar corona |
| Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager | PHI | S. Solanki | 
|
High-resolution and full-disk measurements of the photospheric vector magnetic field, line-of-sight velocity in the photosphere, and visible-light imaging |
| Heliospheric Imager | SoloHI | R. Colaninno | 
|
Wide-field, visible-light imaging of the solar corona |
| Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment | SPICE | European‑led facility | 
|
EUV spectroscopy of the solar disk and near-Sun corona |
| Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X‑rays | STIX | S. Krucker | 
|
Imaging spectroscopy of solar thermal and non-thermal X-ray emission |