NASA’s Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE) mission launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on March 14, 2025.
EZIE mission’s trio of small satellites will fly in a pearls-on-a-string configuration approximately 260 to 370 miles above Earth’s surface to map the auroral electrojets, powerful electric currents that flow through our upper atmosphere in the polar regions where auroras glow in the sky.
The electrojets—and their visible counterparts, the auroras—are generated during solar storms when tremendous amounts of energy get transferred into Earth’s upper atmosphere from the solar wind. Each of the EZIE spacecraft will map the electrojets, advancing our understanding of the physics of how Earth interacts with its surrounding space. This understanding will apply not only to our own planet but also to any magnetized planet in our solar system and beyond. The mission will also help scientists create models for predicting space weather to mitigate its disruptive impacts on our society.
Image Credit: SpaceX
