NASA Backs Nine-Satellite CINEMA Heliophysics Mission

NASA has advanced the Cross-scale Investigation of Earth’s Magnetotail and Aurora (CINEMA) mission into the next phase of development, committing funding and design work for a nine-satellite heliophysics mission amid broader budget pressures that have raised concerns about the field’s future.

CINEMA was selected to enter Phase B under the Small Explorer (SMEX) program, following a yearlong competitive concept study. Phase B will cover detailed mission and flight design over the next 10 months, supported by approximately US$28 million. If approved to proceed beyond this stage, the mission’s total lifecycle cost, excluding launch, would be capped at US$182.8 million, with a planned launch no earlier than 2030.

The mission consists of a constellation of nine small satellites in polar low Earth orbit, each carrying three instruments: an energetic particle detector, an auroral imager, and a magnetometer. Together, these spacecraft will collect simultaneous multipoint measurements of Earth’s magnetotail—a region shaped by interactions between Earth’s magnetic field and the solar wind, and a key driver of geomagnetic storms.

“The CINEMA mission will help us study magnetic convection in Earth’s magnetosphere, a critical piece of understanding why some space weather events trigger aurora displays and impact infrastructure, while others fizzle out,” said Joe Westlake, Director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division.

NASA officials highlight the mission’s role in improving knowledge of how plasma energy enters, circulates, and is explosively released from the magnetosphere, processes that underpin space weather events capable of disrupting satellite operations, aviation routes, communications, and power grids, with wide-reaching economic and operational implications.

The mission will be managed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, with Robyn Millan of Dartmouth College serving as principal investigator. APL will oversee mission integration and instrumentation, while the University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with Space Dynamics Laboratory, will provide auroral imaging instruments. Blue Canyon Technologies will build and operate the small satellite platforms.

“This is an exciting moment for our team and partners. CINEMA’s multi-spacecraft approach will provide a perspective on Earth’s magnetotail never before possible, opening the door to discoveries that advance our understanding of the Sun–Earth system,” said Millan.

Bobby Braun, head of APL’s Space Exploration Sector, emphasized the mission’s operational significance: “CINEMA provides a critical tool for understanding space weather. We’re eager to collaborate with our partners to implement this mission.”

In parallel, NASA selected a second SMEX concept, the Chromospheric Magnetism Explorer (CMEx), for an extended Phase A study, investing US$2 million over 12 months to further develop the single-spacecraft mission, which will use ultraviolet spectropolarimetric instruments to study the Sun’s chromosphere. CMEx is led by Holly Gilbert of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and builds on heritage hardware flown on the CLASP sounding rocket missions.

While CINEMA’s advancement marks progress for heliophysics, it comes amid growing uncertainty over long-term funding. NASA’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal requests US$432.5 million for heliophysics, down from US$805 million in fiscal 2024, with reductions including the cancellation of several missions in development or extended operations.