The May 2024 solar storm: your questions answered
Activity on the surface of the Sun generates space weather that spreads outwards, across the Solar System. Last week, a very large active region on the Sun facing our planet ...
ESA Vigil will be the first of its kind. By keeping an eagle eye on the 'side' of the Sun, the spacecraft will stream a constant feed of near real-time data on potentially hazardous solar activity, before it rolls into view from Earth. The mission will give us advance warning of oncoming solar storms and therefore more time to protect spacecraft in orbit, infrastructure on the ground and explorers now and in the future, unshielded by Earth's magnetic field and vulnerable to our star's violent outbursts. ESA Vigil takes its name from the Latin ‘vigilis exceptus’ meaning sentry, and also ‘vigilia’ meaning wakefulness and the act of keeping a devoted watch.
Launch (planned): 2031
Status: In development
Orbit: Fifth Lagrange point
Closest distance to the Sun: 150 million km
150
million km to Sun
150
million km to Earth
0
° above the equator
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Vigil: ESA’s space weather reporter in deep space
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Latest news
Airbus to build ESA’s Vigil space weather forecasting mission
ESA has signed a contract with Airbus Defence & Space UK worth €340 million for the development of its Vigil satellite. From its unique vantage point in deep space, Vigil ...
SMOS and Swarm team up to spot huge solar storm
The Sun erupted over the weekend, flinging electromagnetic radiation towards Earth, even illuminating skies with spectacular aurora borealis. For the first time, ESA’s unlikely space weather duo of SMOS and Swarm tracked the severe solar storm — which warped Earth’s magnetic field.
New home for Earth’s protectors
ESA’s new Space Safety Centre is a hub for activities protecting our planet from a raging star, risky asteroids and defunct satellites.ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher inaugurated the Centre today at the Agency’s ESOC mission control centre, in Darmstadt, Germany.
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Latest images
Space weather reporter Vigil in deep space
Space weather reporter Vigil in deep space
Airbus is the prime contractor for ESA's Vigil spacecraft
Airbus is the prime contractor for ESA's Vigil spacecraft
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Latest videos
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Vigil mission overview
ESA’s space weather forecasting mission Vigil will monitor our active and unpredictable Sun to protect vital infrastructure on Earth and in space as well as space explorers from its violent outbursts. Vigil is planned for launch in 2031.
Airbus to build ESA’s Vigil space weather forecasting mission
ESA has signed a contract with Airbus Defence & Space UK worth €340 million for the development of its Vigil satellite. From its unique vantage point in deep space, Vigil ...
Vigil’s tools as a space weather reporter
Big solar storms, like the one in May 2024 that lit up the skies with stunning auroras across Europe, have the potential to disrupt power grids, communications and satellites. Space weather, driven by solar activity, needs to be predicted early and accurately to give us the crucial time needed to protect satellites, astronauts and vital infrastructure on Earth.That’s where ESA’s Vigil mission comes in. Acting as a dedicated ‘space weather reporter’, Vigil will drastically improve our forecasting abilities with its specialised set of instruments, delivering breaking space weather news from its unique deep-space vantage point at Lagrange point 5 (L5).
