IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe)

NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) began its two-year primary science mission on Feb. 1 to explore and map the boundaries of our heliosphere — the protective bubble created by the solar wind that encapsulates our solar system. The mission, which launched on Sept. 24, 2025, relies on 10 scientific instruments to chart a […]

NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) reached its destination at Lagrange point 1, or L1, approximately 1 million miles from Earth toward the Sun on Jan. 10. The mission’s operations team sent commands to the spacecraft on the morning of Jan. 9 to begin trajectory maneuvers to enter orbit at L1. Early on the […]

All 10 instruments aboard NASA’s newly launched IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) mission have successfully recorded their first measurements in space. With these “first light” observations, the spacecraft is now collecting preliminary science data as it journeys to its observational post at Lagrange point 1 (L1), about 1 million miles from Earth toward the […]

NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is communicating with mission operators at the Mission Operations Center at the University of California Berkeley following a successful acquisition of signal at 9:33 EDT. This follows a successful signal acquisition of NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) today. The observatory will begin studying the Earth’s exosphere in March 2026. […]

Mission managers successfully received acquisition of signal from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Follow-On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) spacecraft. The spacecraft is the first NOAA satellite designed specifically for and fully dedicated to continuous, operational space weather observations.  The SWFO-L1 satellite will monitor the Sun’s outer atmosphere for large eruptions, called coronal mass […]

The third and final Sun and space weather observatory successfully deployed from the second stage. NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory is on a journey to Lagrange point 1. Carruthers mission will study Earth’s exosphere, the outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere. It will be the first mission dedicated to understanding changes in this expansive region we know […]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Follow-On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) spacecraft is now headed to Lagrange point 1 (L1) following separation from the SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage at 9:01 a.m. EDT. The SWFO-L1 satellite will monitor space weather from L1 and allows for the decommissioning of aging legacy satellites, that are […]

Mission controllers for NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) observatory have received full acquisition of signal from the spacecraft. NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) will help researchers better understand the boundary of the heliosphere, a huge magnetic bubble created by the Sun surrounding and protecting our solar system from harmful radiation across […]

NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) observatory is flying on its own after completing separation from the SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage. IMAP will maintain a steady rotation — four spins per minute — as it begins its journey to Lagrange point 1 (L1), located approximately one million miles from Earth in the direction […]