Vantage is building four sets of flight quality Multilayer Insulation (MLI) blankets and ground wires for Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to be installed on the Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) spacecraft. SwRI is leading PUNCH, a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) mission that will integrate understanding of the Sun’s corona, the outer atmosphere visible during total solar eclipses, with the “solar wind” that fills the solar system.
The solar wind, a supersonic stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun, fills the heliosphere, the bubble-like region of space encompassing our solar system. Its boundary, where the interstellar medium and solar wind pressures balance, ends the sphere of the Sun’s influence. PUNCH’s four satellites are going to visualize and image how the solar corona transitions into the solar wind. PUNCH is scheduled to launch in April of 2025.
Our blankets are designed to meet the mission requirements for resistivity of ≤ 1 ohm and are fabricated in our facilities. Vantage is very proud of the hard work our Thermal Engineering Team is performing in support to our continued customer SwRI.
Vantage Joint Venture Awarded NASA/GSFC SES III Contract