Elon Musk makes weather forecasts from space

Elon Musk wants to update weather forecasting in space. To this end, the founder of SpaceX is seeking cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US authority (NOAA) In, unlike scholars Space.com looking at. The goal is to make accurate predictions because there’s a big problem: the models used by space weather experts are often flawed. There is a lack of measurements at the altitudes at which Earth’s atmosphere meets space.

Why is the field of research so important? Space weather affects life on Earth. For example, the northern lights are of cosmic origin. “The aurora is the visually beautiful aspect of space weather,” says Stefan Kraft, a physicist at the European Satellite Control Center ESOC in Darmstadt.

Physically, the aurora borealis means that a solar flare has occurred previously, shedding plasma of the order of tens of billions of tons of mass into space. This solar plasma is made up of electrons, protons, and a nucleus of heavy elements like helium, oxygen or iron — a mixture of highly charged particles that endangers people and technology and can destroy infrastructure in space and on Earth, he explains. ESA expert Stephen Craft.

The thermosphere is a rough patch

So far, however, very little data can be collected for research because the number of satellites is very small. In addition, satellites are at the mercy of solar storms at the frontiers of airspace. In February 2022, a solar storm hit 40 new starlink satelliteswho then fell to the ground.

The climate in space has become more extreme, so perhaps the latest crash was just a small introduction. Researchers at NOAA I was exposed to a stronger cycle of sun after a longer rest period. This leads to more atmospheric phenomena in space, which also become dangerous for high-tech satellites. So far, data has been so scarce that NOAA’s models haven’t been powerful enough to accurately predict the explosions of particles that make up a solar storm.

Elon Musk could be the answer

Starlink currently operates more than 2,200 satellites orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 550 kilometers. However, the company launches satellites into orbit well below 350 kilometers and increases the trajectory using onboard thrusters. At lower altitudes, satellites are more susceptible to sudden changes in space weather.

from now on SpaceX Share the orbital data of its satellites with the Authority. The goal is to better protect people and technology. Americans are not the only ones struggling with the increasingly unstable weather conditions in space. The European Space Agency (ESA) said its Swarm satellites, which monitor Earth’s magnetic field, have been sinking 10 times faster since December 2021 than in any other year since they were launched in 2013.