The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) Mission Concept

Abstract

The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) would provide an entirely new view on particle acceleration and transport in the inner heliosphere by creating the first low radio frequency interferometer in space to localize heliospheric radio emissions. By imaging and determining the location of decametric-hectometric (DH) radio bursts from 0.1 MHz–25 MHz, SunRISE would provide key information on particle acceleration mechanisms associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and the magnetic field topology from active regions into interplanetary space. Six small spacecraft, of a 6U form factor, would fly in a supersynchronous geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) orbit within about 10 km of each other, in a passive formation, and image the Sun in a portion of the spectrum that is blocked by the ionosphere and cannot be observed from Earth. Key aspects that enable this mission concept are that only position knowledge of the spacecraft is required, not active control, and that the architecture involves a modest amount of on-board processing coupled with significant ground-based processing for navigation, position determination, and science operations. Mission-enabling advances in software-defined radios, GPS navigation and timing, and small spacecraft technologies, developed and flown over the past few years on DARPA High Frequency Research (DHFR), the Community Initiative for Continuing Earth Radio Occultation (CICERO), and the Mars Cube One (MarCO) missions, have made this concept affordable and low-risk. The SunRISE concept would involve utilizing commercial access to space, in which the SunRISE spacecraft would be carried to their target orbit as a secondary payload in conjunction with a larger host spacecraft intended for GEO.