SMESE (SMall Explorer for Solar Eruptions): A microsatellite mission with combined solar payload Original Research Article

The SMESE (SMall Explorer for Solar Eruptions) mission is a microsatellite proposed by France and China. The payload of SMESE consists of three packages: LYOT (a Lyman α imager and a Lyman α coronagraph), DESIR (an Infra-red Telescope working at 35–80 and 100–250 μm), and HEBS (a High Energy Burst Spectrometer working in X- and gamma-rays). The scientific objectives of the mission are shortly presented. We describe the three instrumental packages and the profile of the mission which accommodates them. With a launch around 2012–2013, the SMESE microsatellite mission will provide a unique tool for detecting and understanding eruptions (flares and coronal mass ejections). Observations should start around solar maximum, and continue in the declining phase of activity, at a time when the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) should still be operating.