The first set of small satellites for NASA's SunRISE mission is ready to detect and track hazardous weather

NASA's SunRISE - or the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment - is an ambitious program that aims to launch a radio telescope that will be the largest ever launched for the purpose of detecting and tracking explosive events associated with hazardous space weather.

NASA has reported that the Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory has completed the production of the first six satellites. It is the responsibility of SDL to construct, test, and commission the six satellites involved in the mission. 

NASA's SunRISE radio telescope will be launched in 2024 and will enable scientists to better understand explosive space weather events. Earth will be able to observe the Sun through the combined power of six toaster-sized satellites, which has been 'impossible' so far.

The SunRISE project is going well, and it is exciting to see the space vehicles coming together,” says Jim Lux, the project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California that oversees the creation of the spacecraft.

The SunRISE project uses 24 small satellites, called SmallSats, to detect radio waves from the Sun's superheated atmosphere, known as the corona. As they move together, the satellites will trace out a virtual radio telescope, complete with four antenna booms that extend about 10 feet.

NASA's Deep Space Network is receiving signals from six SmallSats that can be used to construct a large-aperture radio telescope as wide as the distance between the two SmallSats that are farthest apart - about 6 miles.

As opposed to other ground-based radio telescopes that use interferometry to combine the observing power of many antennas, SunRISE will be able to observe long wavelengths blocked by the upper atmosphere.

As a result, it can pinpoint the locations in the Sun's corona where solar radio bursts, or sudden event-type emissions, occur. A detailed 3D map of their positions will be created by the SunRISE team using the data.

'As a result of these high-energy solar particles, astronauts and technology are at risk. It's possible to be better prepared and informed if we track the radio bursts associated with these events,” Justin Kasper, the SunRISE principal investigator, said.

As a result, NASA plans on using the observation from SunRISE along with data from other space missions and ground-based observatories to make a more comprehensive picture of the solar system.