The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to launch the CubeSat Radio Wave Interferometry Experiment (CURIE) into orbit to explore the origin of radio waves from the Sun—one of the key factors in establishing space weather patterns.
According to the plan, CURIE will be launched on July 9 (local time) from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou (a French territory in South America) using the Ariane 6 rocket from the European Space Agency (ESA). CURIE will orbit at an altitude of approximately 580 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
CURIE team members working to integrate satellites into the CubeSat deployment system. (Photo: NASA).
Using the radio wave interferometry method, this project aims to study radio wave emissions from solar eruptions, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections—phenomena involving plasma and magnetic fields released from the Sun. These activities drive space weather patterns, enhancing auroral activity and geomagnetic effects on Earth.
CURIE is developed by a team of scientists from the University of California. According to ESA, this is the first project to study radio wave emissions from solar eruptions, measuring radio waves in the frequency range of 0.1 to 19 MHz from space.
Due to the Earth’s atmosphere blocking radio wavelengths, studies on this issue can only be conducted from space. NASA states that during the research of solar radio waves, CURIE will employ a technique known as low-frequency radio interferometry—a method that has never been used in space before.
NASA explains that this technique relies on two independent flying instruments of CURIE—the size of both combined is no larger than a shoebox. These two instruments will orbit the Earth and be positioned approximately 3.2 kilometers apart. This distance enables CURIE’s instruments to measure minute differences in the arrival times of radio waves, helping scientists accurately determine the source of the radio waves.
