Airbus to Build ESA Space Science Satellite

WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Airbus Defence and Space a €340 million ($369 million) contract to build a spacecraft that will provide a unique perspective on the sun.

A signing ceremony for the Vigil spacecraft was held on May 22 in Brussels. Airbus will construct Vigil at its Stevenage facilities in the United Kingdom.

Scheduled for launch in 2031, Vigil will operate at the Earth-sun L-5 Lagrange point, trailing the Earth by 60 degrees in its orbit. This position will allow it to complement spacecraft at the L-1 point, located between the Earth and the sun, by observing solar regions before they come into view from Earth. This will provide advance warnings of solar activity.

“Data from Vigil can give us an unprecedented notice of up to four to five days for certain space weather effects traveling to Earth,” said Giuseppe Mandorlo, ESA project manager for Vigil. “From its vantage point, Vigil can also more clearly observe the speed, direction, and potential impact of coronal mass ejections.”

“Vigil will be Europe’s first 24/7 operational space weather satellite, providing valuable time to protect critical infrastructure such as power grids or mobile communication networks on Earth, as well as satellites in Earth orbit,” said ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. “Vigil will drastically improve both the lead time of space weather warnings and their level of detail from its unique vantage point in deep space.”

British officials highlighted that the development of Vigil will support over 150 jobs in the UK. “The development of the Vigil space weather mission in Stevenage is a testament to our central role within the European Space Agency and our world-class expertise in space manufacturing,” said Andrew Griffith, UK minister for space.

Vigil will carry six instruments, four of which are from European institutes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States is providing another instrument, a compact coronagraph, based on designs from the Naval Research Lab, which will also fly on the GOES-U weather satellite launching in June and the Space Weather Follow On L-1 mission in 2025.

On May 20, NASA announced it will develop the Joint EUV Coronal Diagnostic Investigation (JEDI) instrument for Vigil. JEDI will offer extreme ultraviolet observations of the sun. The Southwest Research Institute will lead the development of JEDI under a $45 million NASA contract.