News > ESA’s Solar Orbiter made its 1st close approach to the sun today

ESA’s Solar Orbiter made its 1st close approach to the sun today

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced on June 15, 2020 that its Solar Orbiter spacecraft – which sped into space this past February in a dramatic night launch – has made its first close approach to our star. It swept as close to the sun’s surface as about 50 million miles (77 million km), or about half the average distance between the sun and Earth. No images yet! The first ones are expected to be released in July.

We have never taken pictures of the sun from a closer distance than this.