A new American satellite flew from Florida on Tuesday June 25. It should significantly improve predictions of solar storms, events capable of disrupting electrical and communications networks on Earth. This satellite, which weighs nearly 3 tonnes, will also make it possible to observe hurricanes and fires until the 2030s.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the precious cargo, took off from Cape Canaveral. This was the tenth departure of this powerful rocket, which should release its cargo into space approximately four and a half hours after launch.
Named GOES-U, the spacecraft is the last in a series of four satellites resulting from a collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the American Ocean Observing Agency and atmospheric (NOAA). They “are an essential tool to protect the United States and the billion people who live and work on the American continent”emphasized Pam Sullivan of NOAA at a press conference.
The United States will be able to better anticipate solar disturbances
GOES-U is the first of four satellites to feature a coronagraph called CCOR-1. A coronagraph blocks the Sun’s disk, which allows the solar corona to be observed. It is from this outer layer that “Large solar explosions, called “coronal mass ejections”, which can throw billions of tons of material at millions of kilometers per hour towards Earth”said Elsayed Talaat, in charge of space weather observations at NOAA.
This material can then disrupt satellites, energy infrastructure, aviation navigation systems or GPS. Knowing when an ejection occurs allows you to have one to four days to prepare for it. In early May, a Level 5 geomagnetic storm, the peak level, hit Earth, the first to occur in two decades. This disturbance caused impressive northern lights all over the world.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Rare northern lights observed in France, after an exceptional solar storm
Add to your selections
With the new coronagraph, this event could have been better specified from the start (speed, direction, etc.), according to Elsayed Talaat. No major disturbances were noted, but some farmers did not “could not plant their crops due to a malfunction of the GPS on which their equipment was based”, for example specified the expert. This is the first time that the United States will be able to observe the solar corona almost continuously, creating the equivalent of an eclipse every thirty minutes.
GOES-U will be operational after a few months of testing
This is a big step forward from current capabilities. For the moment, such observations are received with a delay of up to eight hours, carried out by a satellite launched in 1995 but which should cease operating within two years. The new instrument will “change the situation” et “open a new chapter in space weather observations”they said Elsayed Talaat.
These are crucial “to protect our economy, our national and individual security, here on Earth and in space”according to him. “Although the Sun is no more active than in previous generations, our society has changed and we are more exposed than ever to its mood swings,” he pointed out.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Northern Lights: the cycle of the Sun under close surveillance
Add to your selections
Unlike a coronagraph on Earth, once placed in space, the observation time is not limited by clouds in particular. GOES-U will be positioned in geostationary orbit, approximately 35,000 kilometers above Earth, and will be operational after a few months of testing. It comes at just the right time, because the Sun is at its peak of activity, a cycle that returns every eleven years.
