![\"SOLAR-1](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SOLAR-1-hero-image-060926-1440x660png.png\")
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SOLAR-1 will provide crucial data and imagery for space weather centres. (Image: NOAA)<\/p>\n
Met Office Space Weather Manager Simon Machin yesterday\u00a0said:<\/p>\n
\u201cSOLAR-1 provides a real step-change in observations of events emanating from the Sun and will vastly enhance our ability to forecast impactful space weather.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs one of a handful of 24\/7 space weather forecasting centres in the world, we\u2019ll benefit from the improved availability of data from the satellite, with imagery from the coronagraph available around every 30 minutes, while on board data collection measuring solar wind will be available around every five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clinton Wallace, Director of NOAA\u2019s Space Weather Prediction Center<\/a>, yesterday said:<\/p>\n \u201cIt means more time to act.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives time for power grid operators to prepare, more time for satellite operators to protect assets, more time for aviation and national security partners to understand risk, and more time for human spaceflight teams to protect astronauts and missions.<\/p>\n \u201cSOLAR-1 helps turn observations of the sun into practical decisions that protect lives, infrastructure, the economy and national security.\u201d<\/p>\n Monitoring the Sun\u2019s activity<\/p>\n SOLAR-1 helps provide continuity of observation data from the L1 position, vital for space weather monitoring and forecasting and building on data from missions that first launched in the 1990s and have operated well beyond their original design lifetimes.<\/p>\n So, what\u2019s the technology on board?<\/p>\n \tCoronagraph \u2013 captures images of coronal mass ejections as they leave the Sun Now providing imagery and data to space weather prediction centres around the world, including the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre, the new information will enable enhanced forecasting capability of solar events, better informing models and providing crucial information for expert forecasters.<\/p>\n In addition, the landmark European Space Agency (ESA) Vigil mission<\/a>, which will place a satellite with a side-on view of the Sun in the L5 position, is planned to launch early in the 2030s and will become Europe\u2019s first operational space weather satellite.<\/p>\n Read more from NOAA on the next phase of the satellite<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tSolar Wind Plasma Sensor \u2013 measures the stream of charged particles flowing from the Sun
\n\tSuprathermal Ion Sensor \u2013 detects high\u2011energy particles that often precede major solar storms
\n\tMagnetometer \u2013 tracks changes in the magnetic field carried by the solar wind<\/p>\n