Eutelsat OneWeb and Imperial College London will explore using its constellation to enable global space weather monitoring. Photo: Eutelsat OneWeb

Eutelsat OneWeb has revealed details of an interesting collaboration in the space weather arena. It will work with Imperial College London to enable global space weather monitoring to help protect satellite operations as well as power, communications, navigation and transport systems. Eutelsat OneWeb, part of Eutelsat, announced details of the partnership, Dec. 5.

Dr. Martin Archer from Imperial College London has been awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship to work with Eutelsat OneWeb. Together they will investigate data taken from the magnetometer equipment used aboard its satellites for controlling their orientation. These sensors, however, may also be able to detect tiny magnetic signals due to space weather. Identifying these signals in the data will reveal the previously unobserved evolving patterns caused by space weather globally – making it possible to prevent interruptions to technology both in space and on the ground, as well as providing researchers with valuable insight to help improve space weather predictions in the future.

Archer will use data from Eutelsat OneWeb’s Gen 1 satellite Magnetometer and the fellowship will support researchers beginning in 2024 through 2028.

“We believe the space industry has a responsibility to work sustainably, and to advance causes that can positively help solve some of the world’s most challenging problems. Space weather is certainly one of these societal challenges, even modest space weather can affect our satellite operations. We are committed to enabling this ambitious research and innovation at the intersection of academia and business and we look forward to working together to see how our vast data capabilities can help inform our actions in the future,” Maurizio Vanotti, VP New Markets, Eutelsat OneWeb, said in a statement.