During the initial three-year phase of the project, Starion and its partners will create a secure, scalable, cloud-based payload data center. This center will process data from space weather instruments on existing and future third-party space missions, distributing the information to organizations across Europe and globally. The ESA SWE PDC will consist of three core subsystems: the Data Hub, Data Processing Framework, and Monitoring and Control. The project will also include enhancements to the SWE Data System, which supports the ESA Space Weather Expert Service Network. While it will function as a subsystem of the current SWE Data Centre, certain elements will be replaced, enhanced, or integrated into the new Data Hub.
The ESA SWE PDC will process raw data from space weather instruments, transforming it into usable Level 1 (L1) data, which experts can then utilize to generate forecasts, alerts, and other data products (Level 2 and above). These products will be made available via the Data Hub and ESA SWE Service portal. The data processing must be rapid to ensure that users can produce timely space weather forecasts and alerts for the public, as well as for commercial, governmental, and international entities.
This project is launching as the Sun approaches the peak of its current 11-year solar cycle, which has already produced several significant solar flares, including one directed toward Earth. Although only minor satellite effects were reported, the event was notable for the extensive auroras visible across both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The last major solar storms to significantly impact Earth, known as the Halloween storms, occurred in 2003 and caused serious issues for satellites, aircraft, and GPS systems. Two decades later, reliance on satellites for critical services and on power systems vulnerable to geomagnetic storm-induced currents is much greater.
Arne Matthyssen, Starion's Chief Commercial and Technology Officer, commented, "We're proud to have been chosen to deliver this key space weather project for ESA, for which we can draw on the combined expertise of Starion teams across Europe and of our partners. There are a number of important considerations for the ESA SWE PDC that we will collectively address, such as the need for the system to improve current capabilities but also to support future space weather missions, and therefore be both scalable and flexible. It also needs to be very secure to ensure high availability, integrity, and continuous provision of the data - for that reason, we will employ a 'zero trust' approach to its design. Being cloud native and cloud agnostic is also key, to give ESA the choice of deployment options in future."
Juha-Pekka Luntama, ESA's Head of Space Weather Office, added, "We recognize the importance of having the best possible systems to collect and distribute data from all relevant space missions to improve Europe's resilience to the potentially debilitating effects of space weather. This doesn't just mean launching new missions to acquire the data, such as Vigil, but also having a secure, comprehensive Payload Data Centre that can store, process, and manage the data in a flexible way to allow for future developments and future missions. We look forward to seeing this project come to fruition, and then moving on to further phases of development."
Starion experts from across Europe will collaborate on this critical project. Specialists from Starion in Belgium will bring their experience in space weather projects for ESA, data hubs, and cybersecurity, as well as their expertise in deploying complex systems to ESA's cloud. Space weather experts from Starion UK, who are leading several ESA projects including the SWE-VIII project, will also be involved. The team from Starion Italia will contribute their knowledge of payload data ground systems and the application of model-based system engineering (MBSE), while experts from Starion Deutschland will focus on integration and operational validation.
Starion's partners in this project include Solenix, who will integrate data processing algorithms and support maintenance activities; The ServerLabs, who bring big data and cloud computing expertise; SpaceIT, who are experts in microservices; and RAL Space, who provide space weather scientific expertise.
Research Report:ESA's distributed space weather sensor system (D3S) utilizing hosted payloads for operational space weather monitoring
Related Links
Starion Group
Space Weather Service Network
Solar Science News at SpaceDaily
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