The “Big Bang” Energy-management procedure performed on Voyager 2 in July 2026 has extended the operational life of three science instruments (Magnetometer, Plasma Wave Subsystem, and Cosmic Ray Subsystem) for at least one extra year. The success of the procedure was reported by NASA in an update on 4 August 2026.    

The technical team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has successfully carried out a power-saving procedure that has extended the working life of Voyager 2 spacecraft which is running low on power from its generator.

The procedure (nicknamed the Big Bang because of a simultaneous multidevice swap) involved turning off two dedicated heaters and a digital tape recorder and turning on lower-power alternative heaters and another heat-producing device to keep the spacecraft warm enough to operate in interstellar space at about 2.7 K. This resulted in power saving of nearly 10 watts (without any adverse impact on critical systems) which is adequate to allow the remaining three science instruments (Magnetometer, Plasma Wave Subsystem, and Cosmic Ray Subsystem) to keep running for at least one extra year. Without the power-saving procedure, these instruments would have had to be switched off by the end of this year. 

Voyager spacecraft are powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) which convert heat from decaying plutonium into electricity. The generators have lost 4 watts of power per year due to the depleting plutonium supply since their launch in 1977. The spacecraft are currently operating on very thin power margins requiring the shutting down of non-essential instruments and systems to conserve energy. 

Voyager 2 is currently ~21.37 billion km from Earth travelling in interstellar space. Voyager 1 is farther ~25.57 billion km from Earth. They are the only spacecraft ever to have crossed the Sun’s heliosphere into interstellar space. 

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Reference: 

1. NASA Engineers Help Prolong Voyager 2’s Science Mission. Posted 4 August 2026. Available at https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/voyager/2026/08/04/nasa-engineers-help-prolong-voyager-2s-science-mission/
2. NASA. Voyager – Interstellar messenger. Available at https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/
3. NASA Voyager 2 Could Be Nearing Interstellar Space. 05 October 2018. Available at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-voyager-2-could-be-nearing-interstellar-space/

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Related article:

1. Voyager 1 resumes sending signal to Earth  (23 April 2024) 
2. Voyager 2: full communications re-established and paused (5 August 2023) 
3. ….Pale Blue Dot, the only Home We’ve Ever Known (13 January 2022) 

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