Solar Orbiter Liftoff

Workers watch from the Atlas Space Operations Center as the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Solar Orbiter spacecraft climbs upward after liftoff from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Feb. 9, 2020. Launch time was 11:03 p.m. EST. Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy managed the launch. The spacecraft was developed by Airbus Defence and Space.