During its closest approaches of the Sun, which bring Solar Orbiter to within the orbit of Mercury, the spacecraft will be travelling fast enough to study how magnetically active regions evolve for up to four weeks at a time.

Solar Orbiter is an ESA mission with strong NASA participation. Its mission is to perform unprecedented close-up observations of the Sun and from high-latitudes, providing the first images of the uncharted polar regions of the Sun, and investigating the Sun-Earth connection. Launch is currently scheduled for 5 February 2020 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, US.