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ESA/NASA spacecraft

SOHO

Also solar and heliospheric observatory

Open in OuranosCompare its size

Active mission (science.nasa.gov, page updated 2026-01-09). Orbits the Sun–Earth L1 point, ~1.5 million km sunward.

At Earth.

Measured

Agency
ESA/NASA
Arrived
1996-02-14
From the Earth today
1,249,685 km
Across its solar panels
9.5 m

How far, from the Earth

1.25 million km. To cross it:

  • Light4.17 seconds
  • Voyager 1's speed21 hours
  • Driving at 100 km/h17.1 months

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

  • JPL Horizons trajectory round Earth: worst miss 77 km on the dates it was checked against (median 44 km); between those dates as much as about 231 km. Dates after the data was fetched are Horizons' predictions, which it revises as a mission flies.

Where this comes from

  • ESA/NASA
  • Spacecraft trajectories: JPL Horizons, NASA/JPL-Caltech; each mission's agency credited on its card.
  • 3D model: SOHO model: NASA 3D Resources (SOHO is a mission of international cooperation between ESA and NASA)

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.