Space projects in development

SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a joint ESA (European Space Agency) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) mission to study the interaction of the solar wind with the Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere. The SMILE S/C (Spacecraft) payload consists of four instruments; SXI (Soft X-ray Imager), UVI (Ultraviolet Imager), LIA (Light Ion Analyser) and MAG (Magnetometer).

The University of Leicester is the PI (Principal Investigator) institution for the SXI instrument. SXI is a collaboration between three UK institutions (University of Leicester, Mullard Space Science Laboratory and the Open University) funded by the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) and several European and international organisations.

SXI will investigate the dynamic interaction of the solar wind with the Earth’s magnetosphere by the detection of X-rays produced when heavy ions in the solar wind collide with neutral particles within the Earth’s exosphere. This mechanism allows the position of the boundary between the outer solar wind and the inner Earth’s magnetosphere to be tracked using global X-ray imaging. Simultaneous to the SXI measurements will be observations of the aurorae at the North Pole taken with the UVI Instrument. The LIA and MAG instruments complement these measurements by monitoring the in-situ plasma and magnetic field environments. The mission science is intended to assist the understanding of the structures and dynamics of the magnetosphere and ionosphere on a global scale, with many downstream benefits and terrestrial applications. The S/C has a highly elliptical Earth orbit, travelling from about 5,000km at perigee to 120,000km at apogee. Approximately 80% of the 52-hour orbital period is spent obtaining high altitude observations.

The design of SXI utilises years of heritage in novel light-weight micropore X-ray optics to focus X-rays on to a pair of CCD (Charge-coupled Device) detectors within a compact telescope. Notable engineering challenges for the Instrument include the sole use of European parts for all systems, cryogenic TCS (Thermal Control System) and the inclusion of a radiation shutter mechanism which is opened and closed to protect the CCDs as the S/C traverses the Van Allen Belts.

The University of Leicester delivered the Proto-flight Model (PFM) SXI to ESA in June 2024 and supported integration on to the PLM (Payload Module) at Airbus Madrid. The team will support SMILE S/C vibration and thermal test activities at ESTEC (The European Space Research and Technology Centre) in 2025, prior to shipment and launch from Kourou, which is anticipated late 2025. Post launch, we will work directly with ESA and CAS via a dedicated SXI Ground Segment Operations Centre located on our Main Campus, and will manage science observations tasking and downlink and process science data.

The “Mars Magnetosphere ATmosphere Ionosphere and Space-weather SciencE (M-MATISSE)” mission is an European Space Agency (ESA) Medium class (M7) candidate currently in Phase A study by ESA.

M-MATISSE’s main scientific goal is to unravel the complex and dynamic couplings of the Martian magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere (MIT coupling) with relation to the solar wind (i.e. space weather) and the lower atmosphere. It will provide the first global characterisation of the dynamics of the Martian system at all altitudes, to understand how the atmosphere dissipates the incoming energy from the solar wind, including radiation, as well as how different surface processes are affected by space weather activity.

It will consist of two orbiters with focused, tailored, high-heritage payloads that will observe the plasma environment from the surface to space through coordinated simultaneous observations, named Henri and Marguerite in honour of the French artist Henri Matisse and his daughter. It will utilize a unique multi-point vantage point observational perspective, with the combination of in-situ measurements by both orbiters and remote observations of the lower atmosphere and ionosphere by radio crosstalk between them.

Dr Beatriz Sánchez–Cano from the University of Leicester is leading the overall mission as well as acting as Principal Investigators for the Mars Ensemble of Particle Instruments (M-EPI) and the Science Data Centre for mission coordination, planning and science exploitation.

M-MATISSE is the product of a large organized and experienced international consortium. It has the unique capability to track solar perturbations from the solar wind down to the surface, being the first mission fully dedicated to understand planetary space weather at Mars. It will revolutionize our understanding and ability to forecast potential global hazard situations at Mars, an essential precursor to any future robotic and human exploration.

The “Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor” (THESEUS) mission concept is an European Space Agency candidate in Phase A study as part of the ESA Medium class call. M7 will be the seventh, medium-sized mission of the ESA long-term science programme under the Voyage 2050 plan.

THESEUS aims to fully exploit the unique and breakthrough potentialities of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) for investigating the Early Universe and substantially advancing Multi-Messenger Astrophysics. THESEUS will discover these events, which are the most powerful explosive phenomena in the Universe over the entirety of cosmic history and allow detailed tests of fundamental physics. THESEUS will also characterise the electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational-wave events, providing unique multi-wavelength capability from gamma-rays to the near-infrared, transforming multi-messenger astronomy in the 2030s.

THESEUS will carry three instruments on a robotic, fast-response satellite, including the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) which will be led from the UK by the University of Leicester. The SXI provides a revolutionary wide-field X-ray imaging capability, monitoring very large areas of sky simultaneously looking for X-ray transients while performing a sky survey. The SXI optics are based on technology developed at Leicester for ESA’s BepiColombo mission to Mercury and the France/China SVOM mission, while the focal plane will utilise newly developed large CMOS detectors provding fast-readout and sensitivity.

The SXI will be developed by a European consortium, including scientists from the UK, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Czech Republic, Poland and a wider international science team.

Professor Paul O’Brien from the University of Leicester, Principal Investigator for the SXI has said: “The capability of THESEUS will revolutionize time domain and multi-messenger astronomy, one of the fastest growing areas of astrophysics. The UK is a key part of the mission, providing a sensitive, wide-field X-ray telescope funded by UKSA in the UK and other European agencies.”

There is a burgeoning global drive for humans to colonise space, the Moon and other planets (e.g.,Mars) but one of the challenges preventing realisation of this goal is the gradual decline of multiple human physiological systems in space that, if left unabated, pose a significant risk to astronaut health and mission performance. The causes of these harmful effects are not completely fully defined or understood and, consequently, effective therapies remain elusive.Life sciences experiments that address this knowledge gap are hence an essential precursor to safe human space travel. To achieve this, new flight hardware tailored to the unique constraints of Space based biology research is urgently needed. To address this technology gap, we have developed the ‘Fluorescent Deep Space Petri-Pod’ (FDSPP) as a miniaturised hardware solution for performing remotely operated biological experimentation on multiple types of organisms, via fluorescent and white light imaging capabilities in deep space. The current mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will demonstrate the flight-readiness of FDSPP and its success will help position the UK amongst the global leaders of life sciences research on future low Earth orbit, Lunar and Mars missions planned by Space Agencies and private companies.

FDSPP is a self-contained experiment within a housing measuring approximately 10x10x30cm and weighing approximately 3kg. Inside the unit there is an electronics interface to the spacecraft power and communications bus that utilises the ISS 28Vdc power supply and serial over USB communications. The interface also provides further voltages for the internal subsystems. The experiment will be placed outside the International Space Station (ISS) on an experimental platform following launch exposing it to the vacuum and radiation of space along with the micro-gravity environment.

The unit contains several separate “life support” systems for the organisms being flown. In the first instance these will be C-Elegens Nematode Worms using a natural fluorescent marker. The life-support system maintains a trapped volume of air and a stable comfortable temperature for the worms when the unit is exposed to the vacuum of space. They are also provided with food and water by means of an Agar carrier, on which the worms are placed.

The health of the worms is monitored by means of photographic stills and time-lapse video captured with exposure to white light, or by fluorescent stimulation using low powered lasers, under the control of onboard microcontroller units, with data stored locally and also relayed to the Earth ground station over the ISS downlink communication system. We also relay temperature and pressure inside and outside of the worms’ containment volumes, and characterise the background radiation by monitoring exposure using a RadFET.

We expect to deliver two complete flight systems, currently being manufactured, assembled and tested, to NASA mid-2025, with a series of ground tests before launch of one unit in late 2025 via a cargo flight to the ISS. The worms will spend some time inside ISS before deployment and experiments begin. Exposure time outside the ISS is currently expected to be 15 weeks although basic experimental results will be achieved in a matter of days or a week. We expect that experimental results will be analysed and published during 2026.

The University of Leicester is leading a UK consortium of industry and academia to develop a Double Walled Isolator (DWI) Qualification Model (QM) for the NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return Campaign. The DWI is an ultra-clean, high containment system that will be a key to an MSR Sample Receiving Facility where samples will be initially characterised and curated. As a containment system, it will enable scientists to safely handle precious martian samples that have been carefully documented on the surface of Mars by NASA’s Perseverance Rover, and then returned to the Earth for laboratory analysis. This is a big step in answering one of the biggest space science questions of our time: “Has life existed elsewhere in the Universe?”, and by extension, “Are we alone in the Universe”?

The Mars Sample Return campaign will return martian samples in the form of rock and regolith (similar to soil), which will be handled inside the DWI, a specialist isolator that keeps the samples in a pristine environment so they do not become contaminated. A key feature of the DWI is the inclusion of analytical instruments, like a microscope and Raman spectrometer that allow scientist to begin documenting the samples before they are released to the scientific community for detailed scientific investigations in labs around the World, hopefully here in the UK and at Leicester.
The University of Leicester has been involved in DWI development since 2016 and are currently working under an ESA contract to deliver the uniquely designed DWI QM. The scope of work includes defining specialist facility requirements, designing and manufacturing a qualification model and finally using that model to demonstrate that MSR science and curation activities could successfully be performed within the DWI QM, and that all user requirements can be achieved whilst doing so.

A key challenge of the DWI QM project, which sets it apart from isolators designed for other industries, is that of material incompatibility, and the need to adhere to Mars Sample Return mission cleanliness levels. If scientific analysis within the DWI indicates evidence that life did or does exists within the returned samples, it is critically important that the DWI provides containment and contamination control so that scientists can be confident in their results. Earth based microbiology would be a serious source of contamination, which is why the DWI is aseptically clean.

Currently there are no measurements of heavy ions by upstream solar wind monitors, typically placed at the Lagrange 1 or 5 positions, nor in the inner magnetosphere. The influence of these ions, therefore, is unmeasured, unmonitored, and unquantified. The solar wind primarily consists of electrons and protons, although a small percentage will be an ion of an element that is largely or entirely stripped of its outer electrons. Due to the mass density of these ions, collectively, they may have a large impact on the Earth’s magnetosphere. The additional dynamic pressure they impose may result in a significant Earthward shift of the magnetopause boundary with implications for the understanding of space weather. The dayside solar wind charge exchange interaction that results in X-ray emissions to be imaged by upcoming missions such as SMILE is underpinned by the dynamic solar wind composition. In addition, competing processes of ion outflow and in flow in the inner magnetosphere is badly constrained. Furthermore, heavy ions can be used to trace particle entry into the nightside magnetosphere so that competing theories to the formation of the low-latitude plasma sheet can be distinguished.

Elfen is a novel mission that will constrain the influence of heavy ions on the dayside of the magnetosphere, as well as the mechanism that feed the formation and evolution of the nightside low-latitude plasma sheet. The current mission solution is to fly a 16U CubeSat in a low-latitude circular orbit at 12 Earth radii (RE) with a science payload of two instruments. The first instrument is a plasma spectrometer (the Triple Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer, T-FIPS) that will measure the heavy ion composition for ions such as C6+ and O7+, the second a magnetometer (MAGIC) to measure the contemporaneous in situ magnetic field providing knowledge of magnetic regimes and boundaries. T-FIPS, led by University of Michigan, has evolved from the FIPS instrument flown on the MESSENGER spacecraft. MAGIC, built by Imperial College London, has flight heritage on CubeSats such as CINEMA and the ESA’s RadCube mission.

At SPL, we have undertaken Concurrent Design Facility studies to significantly mature the mission profile and engineering subsystems. Our team has involved early career engineers, several second-year engineering undergraduates, and post graduate students, with oversee from senior engineers and academics. We have worked closely with The Meridian Space Command, who is co-located at SPL, with further consultancy from SystemLevel Ltd. We have recently completed a 12-month UKSA Bilateral-funded project and we work towards building a structural thermal model of the spacecraft. The spacecraft structure has been provided by EnduroSat, Bulgaria, who are also supporting the platform design. The MAGIC magnetometer has involved development of a CubeSat compatible boom, developed by Oxford Space Systems, and supplied to Imperial College London for testing as a key part of the bilateral project. T-FIPS continues development and testing in Michigan with financial support in the US. Two members of the team recently visited University of Michigan to gain a deeper understanding of T-FIPS and to discuss science projects related to Elfen’s goals with solar wind and Solar System experts.

One challenge is to achieve our desired orbit at a distance of a least 12 RE from the Earth. Elfen needs to orbit at this distance to be able to sample either the pristine solar wind or shocked magnetosheath plasma on the dayside of the Earth, and then it will sample the plasma sheet on the nightside. The incoming solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field causes dynamic changes and reconfigurations of the Earth’s magnetosphere, but the substructures under consideration are large, hence this orbit offers an excellent science duty cycle for the mission. Elfen has provoked conversations and early designs for an Electric Transfer Vehicle (ETV) with Th Meridian Space Command and Pulsar Fusion, a UK company that provides propulsion for space applications. The ETV as designed in its current configuration could take rideshare payloads from Low Earth Orbit to lunar orbit insertion.

Pulsar recently invited a delegation from SPL to attend the Space-Comm Expo held at ExCeL, London in March 2025. SPL engineers displayed at 3D model of the Elfen spacecraft and ETV, plus demonstrated an Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality simulation with a headset which proved popular with attendees. The event provoked useful discussions for the Elfen team and a fantastic opportunity for the junior members to speak to attendees and celebrate their work during the exhibition. The Elfen team also has promoted the mission at a variety of scientific meeting and conferences.