The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory, also known as ASO-S, is a satellite mission aimed at improving observations of solar activity. The satellite was launched using the

CZ-2D The Long March 2D (), also known as the Chang Zheng 2D, CZ-2D, and LM-2D, is a Chinese Multistage rocket, two-stage orbital Launch vehicle, carrier rocket mainly used for launching Low Earth orbit, LEO and Sun-synchronous orbit, SSO satellites. ...

rocket at 07:43:55 local time on October 9, 2022 (8 October 2022 at 23:43

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

). The satellite is a part of the

Kuafu project The Kuafu project () is a Chinese space project to establish a space weather Space weather is a branch of space physics and aeronomy, or heliophysics, concerned with the varying conditions within the Solar System and its heliosphere. This includ ...

, and is also unofficially known as Kuafu-1 (夸父一号). ASO-S was first proposed by the Chinese solar physics community in 2010 or 2011, and was formally approved by the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

in 2017. The mission is aimed at studying the Solar Magnetic Field,

Coronal Mass Ejections A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a significant ejection of plasma mass from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity, but a broadly accepted theoretical understanding ...

and

Solar flares A solar flare is a relatively intense, localized emission of electromagnetic radiation in the Stellar atmosphere, Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar partic ...

. The Chief Scientist is Weiqun Gan of the

Purple Mountain Observatory The Purple Mountain Observatory (), also known as Zijinshan Astronomical Observatory, is an astronomical observatory located on the Purple Mountain in the east of Nanjing. The observatory is responsible for calculating the official Chinese calen ...

, while the chief designer and the chief administrator are both associated with the , which is part of the

University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences The University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS; ) is a public university headquartered in Shijingshan, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The university is part of the Double First-Class Construct ...

Instruments

Source: *Full-Disc Vector Magnetograph (FMG); to observe the vector magnetic field of the sun's photosphere *Hard X-ray imager (HXI); to observe non-thermal physical processes in solar flares *The Lyman-alpha Solar Telescope (LST); to observe the formation and early evolution of coronal mass ejections

References

{{reflist Astronomical observatories in China Chinese space probes