Social media

Follow us on social media! Our handles are: @spice_on_SolO (Twitter) and @solarorbiter_spice (Instagram)

Press releases (SPICE and Solar Orbiter)

SPICE coverage of the spring 2022 perihelion

SPICE and Solar Orbiter first light images released, 16th July 2020

Follow SPICE during the cruise phase. 

Goodbye Solar Orbiter! Press releases following Solar Orbiter successful tests and shipping to the USA

• 18 October 2019: Solar Orbiter Satellite Successfully Tested (IABG)
   
• 18 October 2019: Airbus built Solar Orbiter heads for the Sun in Florida (Airbus) 

• 18 October 2019: European SolO probe ready to take on audacious mission (BBC)

• 18 October 2019: Solar Orbiter passes endurance tests (Max Planck Society) 
   
• 18 October 2019: Solar Orbiter leaves Europe for the USA (spaceref)

Solar Orbiter testing is finished! Press releases following the testings throughout the months

• 23 September 2019: Electric and magnetic tests (ESA)

• 2 August 2019: Zero Gravity (ESA)

• 1 April 2019: Vibrations (ESA)

Previous news about SPICE

• 23 December 2021: SPICE data release v1.0.
• 12/13 May 2021: SPICE operations consortium meeting (online).
   
• 13/15 October 2020: SPICE operations consortium meeting (online).
   
• 16 July 2020: The first images and spectra from SPICE have been released, along the first light data from the other instruments.
   
• 8-9 June 2020: Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the SPICE consortium has met online.
   
• 23 April 2020: SPICE has obtained its first light! Press release from RAL here.  
   
• 20 March 2020: SPICE is currently undergoing commissioning. All of the individual subsystems tested so have passed with flying colours and earlier this week the team successfully opened the SPICE detector door!
   
• 25 February 2020: SPICE successfully switched on! Press release from RAL here. 
   
• 9-10 February 2020: Solar Orbiter was launch in the night of 9-10 February 2020, from Cape Canaveral, with SPICE onboard. 
   
• February 2020: Small SPICE consortium meeting planned on Thursday 6 2020 in the afternoon, ahead of the launch.
   
• January 2020: SPICE is now on social media! Twitter: @spice_on_SolO and Instagram: @solarorbiter_spice. Follow us!
• End of 2019: Solar Orbiter is undergoing unpacking operations at the Cape Canaveral, for a launch planned in the night of 5-6 February 2020.
   
• 19-20 November 2019: The Consortium met at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (United Kingdom).
   
• 1 November 2019: Solar Orbiter travelled on an Antonov cargo plane and safely arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it is getting ready for launch in February 2020.
   
• 18 October 2019: A media event was organised at IABG near Munich, a last goodbye to the spacecraft before it is being sent to the USA for rocket integration. 
   
• End of summer 2019: All the environmental testings of the spacecraft have been completed (Testing on ESA website)

• 14-15 May 2019: The Consortium met at the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen (Germany).
   
• 21-23 January 2019: Members of the SPICE Consortium participated in the SOWG#13 at ESAC to discuss operations to be made during certain observation phases of the Solar Orbiter mission.
   
• 13-14 November 2018: The Consortium team met in Davos at PMOD (Switzerland) for a Consortium meeting.
   
• 19-20 April 2018: The Consortium team met at the Observatoire de Paris (France) for the 1st Operation meeting organised by IAS
   
• 15-16 November 2017: The Consortium team met at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK) to discuss the instrument delivery and operations in preparation of the launch of Solar Orbiter
   
• October 2017: SPICE has a logo!
   
• Summer 2017: SPICE has been delivered to Airbus and integrated on the spacecraft platform.

• 23 December 2021: SPICE data release v1.0.