Development of Solar Sails for Next Generation Space Weather Missions Enabling Improvements in Forecast Lead Times

Space weather is increasingly regarded as a global challenge, as it affects several of today's critical technologies and infrastructure and, therefore, the global economy. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is responsible for providing operational space weather data and services to its users, both domestically and internationally. NOAA’s Office of Space Weather Observations (SWO) is planning new satellite missions to sustain and improve operational space weather measurements. Increasing space weather forecast and alert lead time is important because it allows for better preparedness and mitigation strategies to minimize the impact of space weather events on various technological systems and activities. The (Space Weather Next) SW Next program is addressing user needs for increased lead times for geomagnetic storm alerts. These alerts are generated from solar wind measurements taken from current missions, such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and NOAA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), stationed on the Sun-Earth line at the first Lagrange (L1) point at 0.99AU. Satellites located upstream of L1 will enable increased forecast lead times. NOAA is investigating solar sail as an enabling technology that will move future satellites closer to the Sun, upstream of the Earth-directed solar wind. Operating satellites upstream of L1 improve the lead time of geomagnetic storm alerts, which have been unchanged for 45 years. Improvements in forecast lead time are SWO's highest priority for new technology. In this presentation, we will describe the progress of our effort to complete the fabrication of a solar sail with a characteristic acceleration sufficient to hold an Artificial Lagrange Orbit (ALO) of approximately 0.985AU. This will enable a 50% improvement in lead time over current geomagnetic storm alerts.