Lynker Space announced it will lead a groundbreaking effort in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to make space weather forecasts easier to understand and more actionable for operators of the U.S. power grid and other critical infrastructure vulnerable to solar storms. The project marks a major shift in NOAA's delivery of space weather forecasts: moving from more general, technical advisories to sector-specific, operational alerts that more clearly communicate the timing, location, severity, and uncertainty of the threat.

"Space weather is not an abstract threat-it's a daily operational challenge for industries that underpin our modern society," said Scott McIntosh, Vice President of Space Operations at Lynker Space. "The goal is to transform space weather forecasts from technical scales that are hard to interpret into clear, tailored risk assessments that operators can more easily implement."

Space weather-driven by magnetic activity on the sun-can disrupt power grids, satellites, aviation, GPS, and other vital infrastructure. The 1989 Quebec blackout, which left millions without power after a major solar storm, remains one of the starkest reminders of the catastrophic potential of space weather. Even smaller but powerful disturbances, like the solar storm that produced brilliant aurora across much of the United States in May 2024, can disrupt grid operations and put essential technologies at risk.

Starting this fall, Lynker Space and NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center will engage with grid operators and other end users of space weather forecasts to inform development of a new website delivering accessible, sector-specific alerts that are easier to interpret, more operationally useful, and provide a better sense of where and when the risk is greatest. A testbed exercise to demonstrate the value and effectiveness of these transformed services is planned for next summer.

The project will be guided by recommendations from the White House's Space Weather Advisory Group (SWAG), which last year conducted a survey to identify the needs of users of space weather forecasts. Tailoring forecasts for power grid operators is the first step in a multi-year effort by NOAA that will also target the aviation, human space flight, space traffic management, emergency management, and GPS satellite sectors.

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