Telecoms and GNSS
Flares and storms disturb the ionosphere: HF radio fades out and satellite positioning (GNSS) loses accuracy.
Our ambition: to link an HF radio blackout or a GNSS positioning error to its source on the Sun.
Use cases
Solar storms: what SKEION brings to your sector.
SKEION models the Sun’s magnetic field to show where solar storms come from. Our ambition: alerts that come earlier, state their uncertainty and are more precise in time and place.
Satellite and constellation operators
A solar storm can bring down satellites in low orbit.
The storm heats and swells the upper atmosphere. Satellites meet more drag and lose altitude.
- Feb 2022
- 38 of 49 Starlink satellites, just launched into a low orbit, lost after a minor geomagnetic storm
Sources: SpaceX, 8 Feb 2022; Fang et al. (2022) and Berger et al. (2023), Space Weather.
What SKEION brings
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Explore
Status: First tools
An interactive 3D view, from the Sun’s active regions to the solar wind.
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Event Replay
Status: In development
Replay a past solar storm, adapted with you to your satellites. An anomaly in orbit? The replay gives the solar and geomagnetic context of the day, to help establish whether the space environment is involved.
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Early Alert
Status: Vision
Our vision: to warn satellite operators before the eruption, then refine the alert hour by hour, with its uncertainty, by API. More time to put a satellite in a protected configuration.
Power grid operators
A solar storm can leave a whole region without power.
During the storm, Earth’s magnetic field changes fast and induces currents in long high-voltage lines. These currents (GIC) can overheat transformers and trip grid protections.
- Mar 1989
- a geomagnetic storm brings down the Québec grid in 92 seconds; the blackout lasts nine hours
Sources: Hydro-Québec; NERC (1990); Boteler (2019), Space Weather.
What SKEION brings
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Explore
Status: First tools
An interactive 3D view, from the Sun’s active regions to the solar wind.
-
Event Replay
Status: In development
Replay a past solar storm, adapted with you to your grid. Did a transformer trip or an outage coincide with a geomagnetic storm? The replay rebuilds the event down to your network.
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Early Alert
Status: Vision
Our vision: to warn grid operators before the eruption, then refine the alert hour by hour, with its uncertainty, by API. More time to prepare grid operations.
In North America, the NERC TPL-007 standard asks grid operators to assess their vulnerability to geomagnetic events. Replaying real events is a starting point for these analyses. SKEION provides neither certification nor regulatory advice.
Other sectors
Telecoms, defence, research: what SKEION brings.
Defence and security
Space weather degrades positioning, HF and satellite links, radar and orbit tracking.
Our ambition: to show which solar event degraded a mission, for mission planning and post-event reviews. We describe the space environment only: no intelligence, no targeting.
Research and institutions
Major eruptions start as twisted magnetic structures in the solar corona.
SKEION offers collaborations on their physics, building on work published in Nature.
How to start
A pilot project, built with you.
In a pilot project, we explore with you how our solutions can meet your specific needs and solve your problems. From your case, we adapt and improve them so they fit the way your teams work.