WASHINGTON - Soon, there will be three new ways to study the Sun’s influence across the solar system with the launch of a trio of NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spacecraft. Expected to launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 23, the missions include NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1) spacecraft, Mara Johnson-Groh writes for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
8 September 2025 - NASA and NOAA are preparing to launch three spacecraft - IMAP, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and SWFO-L1 - to study the Sun and improve protections against space weather. All three will travel to the Earth-Sun Lagrange point (L1), about a million miles from Earth, where they can continuously observe solar activity.
NASA’s IMAP mission will map the heliosphere and measure solar wind and energetic particles in near real time. Its data will enhance models that predict hazardous space weather events, which can disrupt satellites, communications, and power systems.
NOAA’s SWFO-L1 will operate as a dedicated space weather observatory. Positioned at L1, it will provide early warnings of solar storms by detecting coronal mass ejections and monitoring the solar wind upstream from Earth. This near-real-time data will allow NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center to give operators more lead time to safeguard satellites, communications networks, power grids, and other infrastructure from solar-driven disruptions.
The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will study Earth’s exosphere, the outermost atmospheric layer that plays a critical role in how the planet absorbs and releases energy during solar storms. Its observations will clarify how the exosphere influences disturbances that can affect satellites, signals, and ground-based technologies.
Related: How space weather affects technology
Related: NASA and NOAA seek industry partners for space weather sensor development
Related: IBM and NASA unveil AI model to forecast solar storms and protect technology
Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
