62nd International Astronautical Congress, Cape Town, SA. Copyright ©2010 by the International Astronautical Federation. All rights reserved. IAC-11-D5.3.3 Page 1 of 8 IAC-11-D5.3.3 COMBINING SOLAR SCIENCE AND ASTEROID SCIENCE WITH THE SPACE WEATHER OBSERVATION NETWORK (SWON) Volker Maiwald German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Space Systems, Department of System Analysis Space Segment, Bremen, Germany, Volker.Maiwald@DLR.De André Weiß German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Space Systems, Department of System Analysis Space Segment, Bremen, Germany, Andre.Weiss@DLR.De Frank Jansen German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Space Systems, Department of Space Systems, Bremen, Germany, Frank.Jansen@DLR.De The peculiarity of space weather for Earth orbiting satellites, air traffic and power grids on Earth and especially the financial and operational risks posed by damage due to space weather, underline the necessity of space weather observation. The importance of such observations is even more increasing due to the impending solar maximum. In recognition of this importance we propose a mission architecture for solar observation as an alternative to already published mission plans like Solar Probe (NASA) or Solar Orbiter (ESA). Based upon a Concurrent Evaluation session in the Concurrent Engineering Facility of the German Aerospace Center, we suggest using several spacecraft in an observation network. Instead of placing such spacecraft in a solar orbit, we propose landing on several asteroids, which are in opposition to Earth during the course of the mission and thus allow observation of the Sun’s far side. Observation of the far side is especially advantageous as it improves the warning time with regard to solar events by about two weeks. Landing on Inner Earth Object (IEO) asteroids for observation of the Sun has several benefits over traditional mission architectures. Exploiting shadowing effects of the asteroids reduces thermal stress on the spacecraft, while it is possible to approach the Sun closer than with an orbiter. The closeness to the Sun improves observation quality and solar power generation, which is intended to be achieved with a solar dynamic system. Furthermore landers can execute experiments and measurements with regard to asteroid science, further increasing the scientific output of such a mission. Placing the spacecraft in a network would also benefit the communication contact times of the network and Earth. Concluding we present a first draft of a spacecraft layout, mission objectives and requirements as well as an initial mission analysis calculation. I. INTRODUCTION The threat of space weather effects on e.g. Earth satellites, air traffic, power grids or any technical equipment susceptive to electromagnetic radiation is significant. To prevent negative repercussions due to function failures or costly interruptions of services thorough predictions of space weather are mandatory. The importance of these effects or more the prevention of these is recognized in ESA’s Space Situational Awareness program and actions of the European Commission [1]. Currently all solar observations used for prediction of solar space weather (e.g. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events, solar radio bursts and strong changes in X-ray respectively UV emissions of the Sun) are directed at the Earth facing side of the Sun, which means in the best case the maximum practical limit for predictions is several days (the solar rotation period is 28 days at the Sun equator). Extending observations to the complete solar surface, especially considering the Earth opposing side, could increase the prediction time to 28 days. While there are several missions planned for solar observations, e.g. Solar Probe (NASA) or Solar Orbiter (ESA), none of them addresses observations on the solar far-side and consequently do not increase prediction times for solar space weather. Therefore we propose a mission architecture that addresses this problem by placing a network of space weather sensors around the Sun, especially making sure that there are sensors in the viewing area directly behind the Sun. Under the title Space Weather Observation Network (SWON) it is suggested to use a “fleet” of landing vehicles distributed over Inner Earth Objects (IEOs) for solar monitoring to predict Sun originated space weather with a longer warning time than currently