Today, it’s incredibly rewarding to see that journey reach a significant new milestone. Following a detailed assessment of scientific value, technical feasibility and strategic alignment within ESA’s Science Programme, Plasma Observatory has been recommended for selection as ESA’s M7 mission, with a formal decision expected in November 2026.
This recommendation reflects the extraordinary scientific potential of the mission and the collaborative work carried out across industry, academia and ESA over the last several years.
Plasma Observatory aims to answer a deceptively simple question: how is energy transferred through space plasmas? By studying how charged particles from the Sun interact with Earth’s magnetosphere – the protective magnetic bubble surrounding our planet – scientists hope to uncover how energy is gained, transported and distributed throughout near-Earth space.
What makes the mission particularly groundbreaking is its innovative architecture. The planned constellation of seven spacecraft will allow scientists to observe plasma processes simultaneously across multiple spatial and temporal scales for the first time. Previous missions, including ESA’s Cluster mission, provided valuable insights into these phenomena but could only investigate one scale at a time. Plasma Observatory’s multi-spacecraft approach promises a far more complete picture of the complex physical interactions that drive space weather and influence our space environment.
The scientific implications extend far beyond Earth. Plasma accounts for approximately 99% of the visible Universe, meaning the physical processes studied by Plasma Observatory underpin phenomena occurring throughout the cosmos. By using Earth’s magnetosphere as a natural laboratory, scientists will gain insights relevant to everything from solar activity and space weather to astrophysical environments around exploding stars and distant galaxies.
For BAE Systems, this development is especially exciting. Our team has been supporting the mission concept through spacecraft design studies, helping to shape a mission capable of delivering transformational science while meeting the technical challenges of operating a sophisticated seven-spacecraft constellation with extremely sensitive payloads. The recommendation marks a significant validation of the work undertaken so far and highlights the strength of the UK and European space sectors in supporting world-leading scientific exploration.
To facilitate the study, BAE Systems worked with multiple experts in the industry, including those at Astronika, Astrostructures, European Astrotech and RASL. Their expertise, analysis and contributions were hugely valuable to the completion of this phase of the mission, and we thank them for their expertise and commitment to the project.
Hear from the experts involved:
“We are pleased to support the Plasma Observatory mission. Astronika’s flight-proven experience in the field of deployable magnetometer booms gained through the JUICE mission and ongoing VIGIL mission will find an excellent application in Plasma Observatory; and enable the design of a lightweight and magnetically clean solution.”Mateusz WolskiDeputy Director for Business Development, Astronika
“Plasma observatory represents a significant leap in our commitment to understanding the behaviour of space plasma and its interaction with the Earth. Previous ESA missions such as Cluster, and more recently Smile, have focused on specific aspects of plasma physics – whereas Plasma Observatory, with its innovative architecture of seven sister spacecraft, will bring an extraordinary wealth of scientific knowledge by allowing the simultaneous observation of plasma processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales.
Beyond scientific value, Plasma Observatory is trekking into new grounds in space engineering – with a large cluster of satellites and a challenging orbit – the mission is pushing spacecraft engineering to new limits.”Ashraf Al-BahlawanFounder and Thermal Engineer at Astrostructures Ltd
“It is widely agreed that space infrastructure is now considered critical infrastructure; and part of planning, managing and operating critical infrastructure is building resilience to the operating environment. Understanding space weather, and what phenomena can affect or dictate the space environment and weather, is key to building knowledge that informs the future development of space infrastructure. We recently supported the EAS/CAS Smile mission looking to gather data on the Earth’s magnetosphere and we are delighted to provide support for Plasma, which will contribute in a meaningful way to the future knowledge of the space environment.”Jonathan HeironsHead of Propulsion Test and Launch Services, European Astrotech
“The ESA Plasma Mission will enhance our understanding of the space environment, particularly plasma physics and space weather. RASL is pleased to have supported the highly knowledgeable and motivated BAE Systems team by providing radiation and surface charging analysis and assurance, helping to ensure the mission is well prepared for the challenges of space.”Tom ClatworthyDirector, RASL
While the formal selection decision is still to come, the recommendation of Plasma Observatory represents a major step towards unlocking new understanding of the Universe. We are proud to have contributed to a mission with such far-reaching scientific ambition and look forward to what comes next.
Finally, congratulations to the entire Plasma team for their work so far achieving this milestone – your hard work and dedication was essential to this success.
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