NASA's next big mission prepares for launch in Titusville. Meet IMAP spacecraft.Brooke Edwards, Florida Today
Florida TodayTue, September 2, 2025 at 5:04 AM EDT
3 min read
NASA's next big science mission is being prepared in Titusville ahead of a late September launch. The goal: better understand our Sun and provide timely warning ahead of space weather events.
Meet IMAP.
Set to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than late September from NASA's Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A, the spacecraft will study the Sun's activities. IMAP arrived in May at the Astrotech facility in Titusville, and has been undergoing testing and processing. Now the spacecraft is fueled and going through the final steps before integration into a SpaceX payload fairing.
In mid-September, the spacecraft will be headed to meet its Falcon 9 rocket — and finally onto the launch pad a few days before liftoff.
"IMAP is planning to study solar wind as well as energetic ions that are being released out into the heliosphere from the Sun," IMAP program manager Kieran Hegarty told FLORIDA TODAY. Simply put, the mission is looking at solar wind — or space weather — which can have an impact on Earth.
It is also looking into the extent of the heliosphere. Formed by solar wind, the heliosphere is a vast bubble which surrounds our solar system.
IMAP will collect its data using 10 sophisticated onboard instruments, which are a collaboration of an international team of 25 partners. The spacecraft itself is divided into six bays, which hold 12 instrument sensors. There's also one large sensor on the top of the craft.
IMAP may not look large at only 3ft tall and 8 ft in diameter but it weighs 1,984 lbs. Media got a first-hand look at the spacecraft inside the Astrotech facility in Titusville, Florida as it's being prepared for launch.
The spacecraft is set to travel 108 days to the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 1 (L1), an area 1 million miles from Earth in which the spacecraft can orbit the Sun alongside the Earth.
The data collected will assist with space weather predictions. That's important because solar activity can harm satellites in orbit as well as astronauts and space technology. IMAP will be able to provide up to 30 minutes of warning before harmful solar radiation arrives at Earth. This will allow for more advanced warning than ever before.
But IMAP is not traveling alone to L1. Along for the ride are the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) SWFO-L1 and the NASA Carruthers Geocorona Observatory spacecrafts.
In a nearby clean room at Astrotech, these two other missions were being prepared for launch day.
The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will map the Earth's exosphere, or highest layer. It will do so by looking at ultraviolet light emitted from Earth's upper atmosphere, which is referred to as Earth's "geocorona." During a study by Dr. George Carruthers conducted on the Apollo 16 mission, it was discovered that Earth's exosphere extends as far as the moon. But just how far remains a mystery.
Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) SWFO-L1 will observe space weather − or charged particles from the Sun.
"Astrotech is integral in the upcoming rollout and eagerly awaits this important launch, making this our 551st Spacecraft processed to date," Robert Curbeam, CEO and president of Astrotech Space Operations was quoted as saying in an Aug. 28 press release.
Next up: these spacecraft will be headed for NASA's Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A. Then those on the Space Coast can look forward to the late September liftoff of these three Sun-centric missions.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: NASA's next big mission, IMAP, prepared in Titusville ahead of launch
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