NASA’s upcoming EZIE mission will use three small satellites to study electrojets — powerful electrical currents in the upper atmosphere linked to auroras.
These mysterious currents influence geomagnetic storms that can disrupt satellites, power grids, and communication systems. By mapping how electrojets evolve, EZIE will improve space weather predictions, helping to safeguard modern technology.
NASA’s EZIE Mission Set to Launch
NASA’s EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission is scheduled to launch in March 2025.
This mission will send three small satellites (CubeSats) into orbit to study electrojets — powerful electrical currents that flow through Earth’s upper atmosphere when the northern and southern lights appear. By mapping these currents, scientists hope to improve models for predicting geomagnetic storms and other space weather events that can disrupt technology on Earth.
EZIE will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It will be part of the Transporter-13 rideshare mission, coordinated by Maverick Space Systems.
EZIE is APL’s first mission to image the magnetic fingerprints of the Earth’s auroral electrojets, electrical currents that flow between Earth and space. The mission will star a trio of CubeSats, satellites roughly the size of a small suitcase, designed to move pole to pole and map the electrojets. Here’s what you should know about the mission. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Emma Curran
Tiny Satellites, Big Discoveries
After launch, EZIE’s three small satellites will fly in a pearls-on-a-string formation, following each other as they orbit Earth from pole to pole about 350 miles (550 kilometers) overhead. Each spacecraft’s onboard sensor will look down toward the electrojets, which flow about 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the ground in an electrified layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere.
Mapping Electrojets from Space
During every orbit, each EZIE spacecraft will map the electrojets to study their structure. The three spacecraft will fly over the same region 2 to 10 minutes apart from one another, revealing how the electrojets change and helping us better understand the connection between our home planet and the Sun.
Explore Further: The Northern Lights Hold a Shocking Secret and NASA’s EZIE Mission Will Reveal It
The EZIE mission is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division and managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The mission is led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
The CubeSats were built by Blue Canyon Technologies in Boulder, Colorado, while NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California developed the Microwave Electrojet Magnetogram, the key instrument on each satellite that will map Earth’s electrojets.
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