Solar Orbiter

The Solar Orbiter is a Sun-observing satellite, in development by the European Space Agency. It is to be launched on a Soyuz-ST Fregat 2–1B from the Guiana space centre in Kourou, French Guiana in October 2013. It will perform close observations of the polar regions of the Sun, which is difficult to do from Earth. The Solar Orbiter will make observations of the Sun from distances as close as 45 solar radii, or 0.21 AU. It is predicted that the images obtained will be up to ten times as sharp as any images that can be taken today.