Plasma Observatory - Phase A

The Plasma Observatory mission covers the overall science topic of “Unveiling plasma energization and energy transport in the near-Earth plasma environment through multiscale observations”.

This will be achieved by addressing two fundamental science questions: 1) How are particles energised in near-Earth space plasmas? and 2) Which processes dominate energy transport and drive coupling between different regions of magnetospheric systems?Here we apply for funding for hardware contribution from Sweden to Plasma Observatory during Phase-A.

IRF will lead two major contributions to Plasma Observatory; the Fields and Wave Processor (FWP-M) and the Electric Field Instrument (EFI-M), both on the mother craft and described further below. KTH will provide the electronics for one of the EFI-M sensors.

These divisions of responsibilities and the overall design concepts for FWP-M and EFI-M have been made based on heritage from previous missions and for management reasons, and are intended to be optimised through development and trade-off activities for which we seek separate funding from ESA as Payload Development Activities.

In addition, IRF will also provide a design for one electronics board on the daughter craft, also described further below.