ESA to send new micro-satellite to Lagrange Point

In case you don’t know what that is, the Lagrange Points are five different points, in relation to the Earth-Sun system (or similar two-body astronomical systems with similar mass differences) where their gravitational forces balance out.

Specifically, the FEEP satellite is going to L1, between Earth and Sun in a heliosynchronous orbit.

There’s a reason the satellite is going there. While the gravitational forces of Earth and Sun will balance, other perturbations will still exist, notably the solar wind. The new satellite will test a micro-sized ion engine designed to exactly resist that pressure at a fine-tuned scale. Read the rest of the story for space technology applications this cold produce.