Vigil
The first of its kind, ESA Vigil will monitor our active and unpredictable Sun to protect vital infrastructure on Earth, in space as well as space explorers from its violent outbursts
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
Introducing: ESA Vigil
