Eyes focused on the Sun and space weather.

November 2, 2009, will be a red-letter day for the Belgian space industry and space sciences. A rocket containing PROBA2 will be fired off at 02:50 Belgian time from a Russian launch base in Plesetsk. PROBA2 will be the first ESA space weather mission dedicated to observing the Sun. Another important item: the satellite was built in Belgium.

The PROBA2 satellite is small, but is stuffed with brand new technologies that will be tested in space during real flight operations. It is what we call a technological demonstration mission. The fact that
PROBA2 is small and inexpensive for a space mission gives small companies and scientific institutes the opportunity to build up experience working on space hardware. It also opens the door for creativity. PROBA2 will be launched together with another satellite in a former intercontinental ballistic missile. The rockets have been repurposed for peaceful use as Rockot satellite carriers.

After PROBA2 separates from the launch rocket, it will enter an orbit around the Earth.
Space weather, like its more familiar counterpart closer to the ground, is the study of changing conditions in the region of outer space near the Earth. However, instead of studying wind and rain, space weather scientists measure electromagnetic radiation and the behavior of solar plasma.
The Sun Watcher with Active Pixels and Image Processing (SWAP) images the solar atmosphere, which is called the solar corona. This outer layer is almost invisible because it mainly radiates in ultraviolet (UV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV). SWAP ʻtranslatesʼ the EUV radiation to a visible picture. One of the novel features of SWAP is its wide field of view of the Sun and the space around. The instrument can even track plasma clouds that erupt and escape. In fact, SWAP can detect these space weather phenomena on its own, with no input from scientists on the ground. This is one of the key goals of PROBA2, whose name stands for PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy. A powerful computer is integrated into the satellite platform and serves as the brain with which the satellite can make independent decisions, navigate, and conduct special pointing maneuvers. SWAP is capable of recognizing space weather events and responding to them.
The Lyman-alpha Radiometer (LYRA) measures the UV radiation that influences, for example, the production of ozone layer in Earthʼs atmosphere.
With aid of LYRA we will be able to measure the solar radiation and radiation peaks. With aid of SWAP, we will see the invisible radiation and flares in the solar atmosphere. Besides this, SWAP can also follow the solar plasma ejected from the Sun. Both the scientific research and space weather predictions will benefit from these solar instruments.