Small Explorer program

SAMPEX RHESSI IBEX IXPE

The Small Explorer program (SMEX) is an effort within NASA to fund space exploration missions that cost no more than US$120 million.[1] Extending the larger Explorers program, it was started in 1989.[2]

## Contents

* 1 Program history
* 2 List of missions
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Program history

The first set of three SMEX missions were launched between 1992 and 1998. The second set of two missions were launched in 1998 and 1999. These missions were managed by the Small Explorer Project Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). In early 1999, that office was closed and with the announcement of opportunity for the third set of SMEX missions NASA converted the program so that each mission was managed by its Principal Investigator, with oversight by the GSFC Explorers Project.[3]

As of 2017, NASA is funding a competitive study of five candidate heliophysics Small Explorers missions, with the expectation that one finalist proposal will be selected as a mission for flight in 2022. The proposals are Mechanisms of Energetic Mass Ejection – eXplorer (MEME-X), Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI), Multi-Slit Solar Explorer (MUSE), Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS), and Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH).[4][5][6]

## List of missions

Name  | SMEX
number  | Explorer
number  | Launch (UTC)  | Status

|
|
|
|

SAMPEX | SMEX-1  | Explorer-68  | 3 July 1992  | Ended: 30 June 2004
Reentered: 13 November 2012
TOMS-EP |  |  | 2 July 1996  | Single instrument: Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer 3.[7]
FAST | SMEX-2  | Explorer-70  | 21 August 1996  | Ended: 4 May 2009
SWAS | SMEX-3  | Explorer-74  | 6 December 1998  | Ended: 21 July 2004
TRACE | SMEX-4  | Explorer-73  | 2 April 1998  | Ended: 21 June 2010
WIRE | SMEX-5  | Explorer-75  | 5 March 1999  | Spacecraft equipment failure
Reentered: 10 May 2011
RHESSI | SMEX-6  | Explorer-81  | 5 February 2002  | Operational
GALEX | SMEX-7  | Explorer-83  | 28 April 2003  | Ended: May 2012
Decommissioned: 28 June 2013
SPIDR  | SMEX-8  | — | — | Cancelled, instrument not sensitive as expected
AIM | SMEX-9  | Explorer-90  | 25 April 2007  | Operational
IBEX | SMEX-10  | Explorer-91  | 19 October 2008  | Operational
NuSTAR | SMEX-11  | Explorer-93  | 13 June 2012  | Operational
IRIS | SMEX-12  | Explorer-94  | 28 June 2013  | Operational
GEMS | SMEX-13  | — | — | Cancelled, expected cost overrun
IXPE | SMEX-14  | TBD  | 2021[8] | In development

## See also

* Cosmic Vision S-class missions, the European Space Agency equivalent to the Small Explorer program

## References

1. ↑ "Explorers Missions". NASA. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100323182500/http://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions.html. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
2. ↑ Mason, G. M.; Baker, D. N.; Blake, J. B.; Boughner, R. E.; Callis, L. B. (1998). "SAMPEX: NASA's First Small Explorer Satellite". IEEE Aerospace Conference. 21–28 March 1998. Aspen, Colorado.. 5. pp. 389–412. doi:10.1109/AERO.1998.685848.
3. ↑ "Welcome to the Small Explorer's Web Site". NASA. 18 February 2000. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20000817054104/http://sunland.gsfc.nasa.gov/smex/.
4. ↑ Brown, Dwayne (28 July 2017). "NASA Selects Proposals to Study Sun, Space Environment". NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-proposals-to-study-sun-space-environment. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
5. ↑ "Announcement of Opportunity: Heliophysics Explorers Program, 2016 Small Explorer (SMEX)". NASA. 13 July 2016. https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/viewrepositorydocument/cmdocumentid=524225/solicitationId={A0C496AC-9B9D-8F7D-A506-B1695BF9BDE8}/viewSolicitationDocument=1/2016 Helio SMEX AO_amend1_clarify.pdf.
6. ↑ Mendoza-Hill, Alicia (25 August 2017). "Heliophysics Small Explorers 2016 Announcement of Opportunity: Concept Study Report Kickoff". NASA / Launch Services Program. https://explorers.larc.nasa.gov/HPSMEX/pdf_files/8_SMEX-AO-2016Helio-CSR-Kickoff-LSP-MENDOZA-HILL.pdf.
7. ↑ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details". Nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. 2017-03-21. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1996-037A. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
8. ↑ Soffitta, Paolo (2017). "IXPE the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer". UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XX. doi:10.1117/12.2275485. 103970I. Bibcode: 2017SPIE10397E..0IS.

## External links

* Small Explorers Missions by Goddard Space Flight Center
* Explorer Program Satellites by the National Space Science Data Center
* SMEX-series satellites by Colorado State University

* v
* t
* e

Explorers Program

List of Explorers Program missions

Missions|

| 1958–1992|

* Explorer 1
* 2†
* 3
* 4
* 5†
* S-1†
* 6 (S-2)
* 7 (S-1A)
* S-46A†
* 8
* S-56†
* 9 (S-56A)
* S-45†
* 10
* 11 (S-15)
* S-45A†
* S-55†
* 12 (EPE-A)
* 13 (S-55A)
* 14 (EPE-B)
* 15 (EPE-C)
* 16 (S-55B)
* 17 (AE-A)
* 18 (IMP-A)
* 19 (AD-A)
* S-66A (BE-A)†
* 20 (IE-A)
* 21 (IMP-B)
* 22 (BE-B)
* 23 (S-55C)
* 24 (AD-B)
* 25 (Injun 4, IE-B)
* 26 (EPE-D)
* 27 (BE-C)
* 28 (IMP-C)
* 29 (GEOS-A)
* 30 (Solrad 8)
* 31 (DME-A)
* 32 (AE-B)
* 33 (IMP-D)
* 34 (IMP-F)
* 35 (IMP-E)
* 36 (GEOS-B)
* 37 (Solrad 9)
* 38 (RAE-A)
* 39 (AD-C)
* 40 (Injun 5)
* 41 (IMP-G)
* 42 (Uhuru, SAS-A)
* 43 (IMP-H)
* 44 (Solrad 10)
* 45 (SSS-A)
* 46 (MTS)
* 47 (IMP-I)
* 48 (SAS-B)
* 49 (RAE-B)
* 50 (IMP-J)
* 51 (AE-C)
* 52 (Hawkeye 1)
* 53 (SAS-C)
* 54 (AE-D)
* 55 (AE-E)
* DADE-A†
* DADE-B†
* 56 (ISEE-1)
* 57 (IUE)
* 58 (HCMM)
* 59 (ICE)
* 60 (SAGE)
* 61 (Magsat)
* 62 (DE-1)
* 63 (DE-2)
* 64 (SME)
* 65 (CCE)
* 66 (COBE)
* 67 (EUVE)

|

MIDEX|

* 69 (RXTE)
* 71 (ACE)
* 77 (FUSE)
* 78 (IMAGE)
* 80 (WMAP)
* FAME
* 84 (Swift)
* 85–89 (THEMIS)
* 92 (WISE)
* 95 (TESS)
* 96 (ICON)
* SPHEREx

SMEX|

* 68 (SAMPEX)
* 70 (FAST)
* 73 (TRACE)
* 74 (SWAS)
* 75 (WIRE)†
* 81 (RHESSI)
* 83 (GALEX)
* 90 (AIM)
* 91 (IBEX)
* 93 (NuSTAR)
* 94 (IRIS)
* GEMS
* IXPE
* PUNCH
* TRACERS

UNEX/MO/I|

* HETE-1†
* 72 (SNOE)
* 76 (TERRIERS)†
* 79 (HETE-2)
* INTEGRAL
* 82 (CHIPSat)
* CINDI
* Suzaku
* TWINS
* Hitomi†
* NICER
* GOLD
* XRISM
* GUSTO
* CASE

Proposals|

| Proposals|

* FINESSE
* Arcus
* OHMIC
* ASTRE
* EXCEDE

|

* Green titles indicates active current missions
* Grey titles indicates cancelled missions
* Italics indicate missions yet to launch
* Symbol † indicates failure en route or before intended mission data returned

* v
* t
* e

NASA planetary exploration programs

Active|

* Large Strategic Science Missions
* Mars Exploration
* Mars Next Generation
* Planetary Missions
* Discovery
* New Frontiers
* Solar System Exploration
* Ocean Worlds Exploration
* Voyager

Completed|

* Lunar Orbiter
* Lunar Precursor
* Mariner
* Mars Scout
* Mars Surveyor '98
* MESUR
* New Millennium
* Pioneer
* Planetary Observer
* Ranger
* Surveyor
* Viking

Cancelled|

* Grand Tour
* Mariner Mark II
* Project Prometheus
* Voyager (Mars)

* List of NASA missions

* v
* t
* e

NASA

Policy and history|

| History|

* NACA (1915)
* National Aeronautics and Space Act (1958)
* Space Task Group (1958)
* Paine (1986)
* Rogers (1986)
* Ride (1987)
* Space Exploration Initiative (1989)
* Augustine (1990)
* U.S. National Space Policy (1996)
* CFUSAI (2002)
* CAIB (2003)
* Vision for Space Exploration (2004)
* Aldridge (2004)
* Augustine (2009)

|

General|

* Space Race
* Administrator and Deputy Administrator
* Chief Scientist
* Astronaut Corps
* Ranks and positions
* Chief
* Budget
* Spin-off technologies
* NASA TV
* NASA Social
* Launch Services Program
* Mercury Control Center
* Kennedy Space Center
* Vehicle Assembly Building
* Launch Complex 39
* Launch Control Center
* Operations and Checkout Building
* Johnson Space Center
* Mission Control
* Lunar Sample Laboratory

Robotic programs|

| Past|

* Hitchhiker
* Mariner
* Mariner Mark II
* MESUR
* Mars Surveyor '98
* New Millennium
* Lunar Orbiter
* Pioneer
* Planetary Observer
* Ranger
* Surveyor
* Viking
* Project Prometheus
* Mars Scout
* Mars Exploration Rover

|

Current|

* Living With a Star
* Lunar Precursor Robotic Program
* Earth Observing System
* Great Observatories program
* Explorer
* Small explorer
* Voyager
* Discovery
* New Frontiers
* Solar Terrestrial Probes
* Commercial Lunar Payload Services

Human spaceflight
programs|

| Past|

* X-15 (suborbital)
* Mercury
* Gemini
* Apollo
* Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (with the Soviet space program)
* Skylab
* Space Shuttle
* Shuttle–Mir (with Roscosmos State Corporation)
* Constellation

|

Current|

* International Space Station
* Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
* Commercial Crew Development
* Orion
* Artemis
* Lunar Gateway

Individual featured
missions
(human and robotic)|

| Past|

* COBE
* Mercury 3
* Mercury-Atlas 6
* Magellan
* Pioneer 10
* Pioneer 11
* Galileo
* GALEX
* GRAIL
* WMAP
* Space Shuttle
* Sojourner rover
* Spirit rover
* LADEE
* MESSENGER
* Aquarius
* Cassini
* Dawn
* Kepler space telescope
* Opportunity rover
* RHESSI
* observed

|

Currently
operating|

* Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
* 2001 Mars Odyssey
* New Horizons
* International Space Station
* Hubble Space Telescope
* Spitzer
* Swift
* THEMIS
* Mars Exploration Rover
* Curiosity rover
* timeline
* InSight
* GOES 14
* Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
* GOES 15
* Van Allen Probes
* Solar Dynamics Observatory
* Juno
* Mars Science Laboratory
* timeline
* NuSTAR
* Voyager 1
* Voyager 2
* WISE
* MAVEN
* MMS
* OSIRIS-REx
* Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite

Future|

* Joint Polar Satellite System
* James Webb Space Telescope
* Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope
* Mars 2020
* NISAR
* Europa Clipper

Communications
and navigation|

* Near Earth Network
* Space Network
* Deep Space Network (Goldstone
* Madrid
* Canberra
* Space Flight Operations Facility)
* Deep Space Atomic Clock

NASA lists|

* Astronauts
* by name
* by year
* Gemini astronauts
* Apollo astronauts
* List of NASA aircraft
* List of NASA missions
* uncrewed missions
* List of NASA contractors
* List of United States rockets
* List of NASA cancellations
* List of Space Shuttle missions
* crews
* List of NASA cameras on spacecraft

NASA images
and artwork|

* Earthrise
* The Blue Marble
* Family Portrait
* Pale Blue Dot
* Pillars of Creation
* Mystic Mountain
* Solar System Family Portrait
* The Day the Earth Smiled
* Fallen Astronaut
* Lunar plaques
* Pioneer plaques
* Voyager Golden Record
* Apollo 11 goodwill messages
* NASA insignia
* Gemini and Apollo medallions
* Mission patches

Related|

* Apollo 15 postal covers incident
* Space Mirror Memorial
* The Astronaut Monument
* U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame
* Space program on U.S. stamps
* Apollo 17 Moon mice
* Other primates in space
* NASA spinoff technologies

* Category

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*[v]: View this template
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*[MIDEX]: Medium-Class Explorers
*[UNEX]: University-class Explorers
*[MO]: Missions of Opportunity
*[I]: International Missions