The Space Plasma Group at MSSL is a leading research group studying the physical interaction between the Earth and the Sun and the fundamental physics of space plasmas. The group has a history of producing instrumentation for, and analysing data from, international space exploration missions in collaboration with scientists around the world.

Scientifically, the group aims to explore how solar events and the solar wind interact with Earth's magnetosphere (the Sun-Earth connection), to determine how magnetospheric dynamics are controlled by different internal and external conditions and to identify and understand the fundamental plasma physical processes operating in these environments. In attempting to understand these fundamental physical processes at Earth, we further our understanding of how these processes affect other interacting plasma systems, such as the magnetospheres of the outer planets.