On 4 Oct, after more than a decade of preparatory studies, Solar Orbiter was selected by ESA's Science Programme Committee (SPC) for implementation with launch planned for 2017. Solar Orbiter will be the first medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 plan, and will be followed by Euclid, a cosmology mission to be launched in 2019 that was also selected.

Solar Orbiter, a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA, will provide an unprecedented out-of-the-ecliptic view of the Sun (reaching up to 25 degrees latitude during the nominal mission and >34 degrees during the extended mission phase) and will approach the Sun as close as 0.28 AU. With previously unavailable observational capabilities provided by the powerful combination of in-situ and remote-sensing instruments and the unique inner-heliospheric mission design specifically tailored for the task, Solar Orbiter will address the central question of heliophysics: How does the Sun create and control the heliosphere?

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