Space weather

Unpredictable and temperamental, the Sun makes life on the inner planets of the Solar System impossible due to the intense radiation combined with colossal amounts of energetic material that it blasts in every direction, creating the ever-changing conditions in space known as ‘space weather’.

While humans on Earth are protected by Earth’s magnetic field, Space Weather poses a radiation threat to astronauts in orbit, as well as having an extreme and disruptive impact on satellites in orbit around our planet and any other, infrastructure on Earth, and ultimately our society.

ESA's Space Weather Office is working provide space explorers and owners and operators of critical infrastructure with timely and accurate information, enabling them to mitigation the adverse impacts of life near a raging Sun. To do this, ESA will soon launch a one-of-its kind space weather mission to constantly monitor the Sun, an expanding network of monitoring instruments in orbit around Earth will gather 'in situ' space weather data while ESA's Space Weather Service Network continues to processes and share space weather predictions and data around the globe.