NOAA’s Space Weather Observations

In response to long-term agency priorities and mandates articulated in the PROSWIFT Act (2020), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has developed a comprehensive strategy for space weather monitoring being implemented by its Office of Space Weather Observations (SWO). As a joint NOAA-NASA Program Office, SWO is implementing the Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) Program to provide operational coronal imaging and solar wind plasma, particle spectra, and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) measurements at low latency. In April 2024, SWFO’s first Compact Coronagraph (CCOR-1) will be launched onboard the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) mission. In February 2025, a second coronagraph (CCOR-2) and three state-of-the-art in situ instruments will be carried to the Sun-Earth Lagrange 1 point on the SWFO-L1 spacecraft to replace the DSCOVR, ACE, and SOHO operations

SWO has also formulated the Space Weather Next (SW Next) Program to advance and maintain a long-term capability for low-latency, high-availability, high-accuracy SW observations for the National Weather Service (NWS) following up from DSCOVR (2015-present) and SWFO (with launches in 2024 and 2025). SW Next will provide increased awareness of the space environment and nowcast/forecast capabilities with satellite missions monitoring the solar wind, magnetospheric, and ionospheric/thermospheric systems. In June 2023, SW Next successfully completed Key Decision Point I for the program. The first project will be the Lagrange 1 (L1) Series to provide continuity of coronal imaging and in situ measurements following up from SWFO-L1 and adding an X-ray irradiance measurement. The L1 Project had its Mission Concept Review in March 2023 and is planned to have the Department of Commerce (DOC) Milestone-2 (MS-2) review in early 2024. The project’s L1-A and -B missions are scheduled for launch in 2028 and 2031, respectively. At the same time, SW Next is closely collaborating with the European Space Agency (ESA) on the Vigil mission, which will carry NOAA’s Compact Coronagraph 3 (CCOR-3) as part of its extensive payload and will provide measurements from the Lagrange 5 (L5) point. Furthermore, future SW Next missions include observations at GEO and LEO with space weather measurements improving on those provided by the ongoing GOES-R and the historic POES programs. These measurements, to be made available through the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), are expected to significantly enhance the accuracy and timeliness of NWS forecasts, as well as provide unprecedented opportunities for research and applications in academia and industry.