Summary
NASA’s six-satellite SunRISE radio astronomy mission is targeting launch no earlier than mid-2027. Flying slightly above geosynchronous orbit, the satellites will work together to track radio bursts from the Sun’s corona.
NASA’s SunRISE mission is targeting launch no earlier than mid-2027. The mission’s six small satellites will fly in formation slightly above geosynchronous orbit and operate together as a radio telescope, tracking radio bursts from the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona.
How six satellites form a radio telescope
SunRISE stands for Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment. Rather than using one large physical dish, the mission will use six toaster-oven-size satellites working as a single radio telescope. In radio astronomy, interferometry combines observations from separated instruments to create the effect of a much larger observing system.
The spacecraft are planned to operate about 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) above Earth, slightly higher than geosynchronous orbit. From there, they will track solar radio bursts associated with energetic particle events. These events may pose hazards to satellites and astronauts, making the bursts a useful subject for studying activity in the Sun’s corona.
Launch plan
NASA says SunRISE will travel as a rideshare payload on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch will also carry a payload sponsored by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command.
The announced timing is a launch no earlier than mid-2027, not a fixed launch date. SunRISE’s central approach is to coordinate a formation of small spacecraft as one radio observatory to study solar activity linked to energetic particle events.