ON-GOING PROJECTS

Space-Weather Nanosat Mission - HEMERIA

The french company HEMERIA has been contracted by the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop its first space weather nanosatellite mission, SWING (Space Weather Ionosphere Nanosat Generation). Scheduled for launch in 2026 with operational data services starting in 2027, the satellite will monitor the ionosphere to enhance communications, navigation, and space weather forecasting.

The spacecraft, designed around HEMERIA's HP-IOT nanosatellite platform, will carry four key instruments: DREAM (radiation monitor) developed by CNES and Steel Electronique (France), XFM-NS (X-ray monitor), mNLP (Langmuir Probe), and Aquila (GNSS RO instrument) developed by Syntony (France). HEMERIA will oversee all phases, with assembly performed at its Toulouse facilities.

Shining a light on solar energetic particle events - SERPENTINE

As spacecraft leave Earth’s protective magnetic field, they find themselves increasingly exposed to radiation. Solar energetic particles (SEPs) – charged particles that are ejected at nearly the speed of light from the Sun during solar eruptions – present a particular hazard.
During large eruptions for example, particle intensities in interplanetary space can be several orders of magnitude higher than background radiation caused by cosmic rays originating outside the solar system.
The EU-funded SERPENTINE project sought to identify the root causes of so-called widespread energetic particle events. To do this, the project team analysed a large number of SEP events observed by multiple spacecraft in the inner solar system. Data was gathered from ESA’s Solar Orbiter and BepiColombo, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and STEREO-A, as well as several near-Earth spacecraft. More info on SERPENTINE.

ESA Space Weather Service Network (2022-2025)

The French space weather research community provides forecasts of the Sun-Earth sub-systems through ESA’s Space Weather Expert Centers (Solar, Heliospheric, Magnetospheric, Ionospheric, Radiation) which are part of the Space Weather Service Network (SWESNET). This includes interfacing of numerical models developed and run in French laboratories through the European Virtual Space-Weather Modelling Center.

ESA Aurora Mission (Aurora-D: 2024-2028 and then Aurora-C launch due 2031)

Monitoring the polar aurora (24/7) with the Aurora mission: France is to supply the main imager for this mission. ESA's AURORA mission aims to monitor the polar aurora in real time (24/7) using a network of four microsatellites, improving our understanding of solar impacts on the upper layer of the atmosphere. For the first time, a complete image of the auroral oval will be obtained 24/7, making it possible to accurately quantify the total energy input to the magnetosphere and the Earth's upper atmosphere due to solar activity. Grenoble-based Absolut-System, in partnership with the local industrial ecosystem (Pyxalis) and the Grenoble Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics, will supply the Aurora Oval Spectro-Imager (AOSI) for this mission. The first prototype of the AOSI instrument was assembled and tested by the teams in 2024. The first demonstrator (Aurora-D) is due to be launched in 2028, followed by the constellation of four AURORA-C satellites scheduled for 2031.

The phenomena occurring on the surface of the Sun, in the solar wind or in the spatial environment of the Earth are likely to affect the performance and reliability of ground and space equipment, to endanger life or human health.

The study of the Sun, the solar wind and the terrestrial environment, their systematic monitoring and their operational forecasting in the frame of Space Weather activities constitute one of the mission of the Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (INSU/CNRS), called National Observation Service (SNO). In addition to its societal aspects, this mission has significant scientific spin-offs, particularly on the understanding of solar cycles, on the physics of the relationship between the heliosphere and the Earth, and on the dynamics of the Earth's space environment. This also requires the skills of astronomers and astrophysicists and uses their observation and simulation capabilities, which are essential for preparing operational and forecasting activities.

Services associated with Space Weather activities and which can be recognized by INSU relate to:

• Systematic and / or real-time monitoring of the Sun and the space environment from the ground or from space.
  Current SNO (experiments): Nançay Radioheliograph, Meudon Spectroheliograph, CERCLE neutrons monitors, CLIMSO Coronagraph, SuperDARN ionospheric radar.


• Prediction of solar activity and conditions of the space environment.
  Current SNO (database): Plasma Physics Data Center (CDPP), Multi Experiment Data and Operation Center (MEDOC) and of Solar-Terrestrial ObseRvation and Modeling Services (STORMS)


• Production of geophysical or solar indices and other characteristic quantities useful for Space Weather.
  Current SNO (database): International Service of Geomagnetic Indices (ISGI).