Lynker Space cooperates with the US Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Office (NOAA), To develop space weather forecasts, adapted to the needs of power supply operators and other elements of critical infrastructure.
The problem is, that traditional space weather forecasts are often too technical and complex for practical use. Links, after analyzing the needs of infrastructure operators, will develop with NOAA sector-oriented alerts and warnings. Testing of the new system is planned for the summer 2026 year.
In parallel, NASA is preparing the launch of three missions — Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), Carruthers Geocorona Observatory та NOAA’s Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1). They will provide detailed observations of solar activity and significantly improve the accuracy of forecasts. The launch will take place 24 September from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon rocket 9.
As emphasized by Lynker's vice president of space operations, Scott McIntosh, space weather is not an abstract threat, and a daily challenge for energy, aviation, space traffic management and other industries. The company's goal is to turn complex scientific data into understandable risk assessments, which are easy to apply in real conditions.
The last solar cycle, which peaked at the end 2024 year, demonstrated the vulnerability of precision agriculture systems to geomagnetic storms, aviation and satellite navigation. At the same time, geomagnetic activity on Earth usually reaches its maximum several years after the peak of sunspots.
Lynker and NOAA's work will align with the recommendations of the White House's Space Weather Advisory Group, which in 2024 conducted a survey of users of space weather forecasts. In the future, forecasting will be focused on:
- power grid operators,
- aviation,
- manned space flights,
- space traffic management,
- emergency response systems,
- and users, dependent on GPS satellites.
Source: https://spacenews.com