NASA Advances CINEMA and CMEx Missions to Tackle Space Weather Threats

NASA has advanced two promising heliophysics mission concepts, CINEMA and CMEx, placing one on a path toward flight and giving the other additional time for design refinement.[1][2][3]

These decisions, made under NASA’s Heliophysics Explorers Small-class Explorer (SMEX) program, highlight how seriously the agency is taking the growing risks from space weather to our satellites, power grids, and crewed missions beyond Earth.[1][2] Both concepts completed a one‑year early study phase and have now been selected to continue, but in different ways.

CINEMA: Tracking Earth’s Magnetic Heartbeat

The Cross‑scale Investigation of Earth’s Magnetotail and Aurora (CINEMA) mission has been chosen to enter Phase B, the intensive flight design and detailed planning stage.[1][3]

• Lead institution: Dartmouth College
• Principal investigator: Robyn Millan[1]
• Funding for Phase B: About $28 million[1][3]
• Total mission cost cap (excluding launch): $182.8 million[1][3]
• Phase B duration: ~10 months[1][3]
• Earliest launch: No earlier than 2030[1][3]

CINEMA will fly a constellation of nine small satellites in polar low Earth orbit.[1] Each spacecraft will carry three key instruments:

• An energetic particle detector
• An auroral imager
• A magnetometer[1]

Working together, these satellites will probe Earth’s magnetotail—the elongated nightside region of our magnetic field—and connect its large‑scale dynamics to the auroras and other signatures we see in the upper atmosphere.[1][3]

NASA heliophysics director Joe Westlake explained that CINEMA focuses on magnetic convection in the magnetosphere, a “critical piece of the puzzle” in understanding why some space weather events produce intense auroras and technological disturbances while others fade quickly.[1] By taking multi‑point measurements with many satellites at once, CINEMA is designed to improve our ability to predict impacts of space weather on humans and technology across the solar system.[1]

For everyday life, that means better insight into events that can:

• Disrupt GPS and communications
• Interfere with satellites and spacecraft
• Induce currents in power grids on the ground

If CINEMA is ultimately confirmed after Phase B, it will become a cornerstone mission for understanding how energy from the Sun flows through Earth’s magnetic environment and into our atmosphere.

CMEx: Unlocking the Sun’s Hidden Magnetic Engine

While CINEMA moves closer to flight, NASA has also selected the Chromospheric Magnetism Explorer (CMEx) for an extended Phase A study—an additional 12 months of concept development.[1][2]

• Lead institution: U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR)[2]
• Principal investigator: Holly Gilbert[1][2]
• Extended Phase A duration: 12 months[1]
• Funding for extended Phase A: $2 million[1]

CMEx is aimed at a long‑standing gap in solar physics: the chromosphere, a complex, relatively poorly understood region between the Sun’s visible surface (photosphere) and its hot outer atmosphere (corona).[2]

CMEx would provide the first continuous observations of the Sun’s magnetic field in the chromosphere from any space‑ or ground‑based observatory.[2] This is where the magnetic energy that powers solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) is built up before explosive release.[2]

According to NSF NCAR, continuous measurements from CMEx would:

• Fill a major gap in our understanding of solar magnetic fields
• Create an unprecedented dataset for solar researchers
• Directly support space weather forecasting, improving predictions of storms that can affect modern technology[2]

Principal investigator Holly Gilbert emphasized that CMEx data could lead to meaningful forecast improvements that strengthen resilience in an “increasingly technologically dependent world.”[2] The extended Phase A gives the team time to refine the mission design, reduce risk, and demonstrate value before NASA decides whether to advance CMEx into a future development phase.[1][2]

Why These Missions Matter Now

NASA officials are clear that these selections are not just about fundamental science; they are also about practical protection of society and future exploration.

Asal Naseri, acting associate flight director for heliophysics, noted that space now touches “just about everything we do”, from communications and navigation to finance and national security.[1] Better understanding of both:

• How solar storms form (CMEx), and
• How they interact with Earth’s magnetic shield (CINEMA),

is central to predicting and mitigating events that could damage satellites, disrupt services, or endanger astronauts near Earth, at the Moon, or on Mars.[1][2]

Both missions originated from NASA’s 2022 Heliophysics Explorers Program SMEX Announcement of Opportunity, and both were among four small explorer concepts competitively selected in 2023 for one‑year concept studies.[1][2] NASA’s latest decision narrows the field, signaling confidence that CINEMA is ready for detailed mission design while CMEx merits deeper study to mature its concept.

In combination, CINEMA and CMEx reflect a strategic approach to heliophysics:

• From the Sun’s magnetic engine (CMEx)
• Through Earth’s magnetosphere and auroras (CINEMA)

they aim to trace the pathway of energy and particles that drive space weather, improving both scientific understanding and our ability to live and work safely in a technologically dependent, space‑faring era.[1][2][3]

Original source: NASA – Breaking News – NASA Selects Two Heliophysics Missions for Continued Development