by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 04, 2025
Mission Space is preparing to make a major stride forward by sending its new Zohar space weather sensor payload into orbit aboard SpaceX's Transporter-13. This launch marks a significant milestone, as the sensor is designed to deliver continuous readings on solar activity, radiation levels, and magnetospheric variations in real time.
Zohar is placed and managed in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by DPhi Space. Its instruments capture data about coronal mass ejections, solar flares, and other phenomena that have tangible effects on critical systems. These solar events can disturb satellite communications, pose radiation risks for emerging space tourism, undermine GPS accuracy, and create power grid issues linked to geomagnetically induced currents.
"Space weather is a data monopoly game: the first to launch the constellation and build the infrastructure will win," Alex Pospekhov, CEO and founder at Mission Space predicts. "Even with half a constellation, in two years we will generate a thousand times more space weather data than humans have generated in the last 60. And the real-time data will let us develop machine learning models based on it."
Through Zohar and the company's SWOS analytics platform, Mission Space is directly tackling the complexities of space weather. By providing rapid data to space operators, airlines, defense organizations, mission planners, and other sectors, the goal is to help them anticipate disturbances and make strategic decisions based on evolving solar conditions.
Though Zohar's initial deployment concentrates on activities in LEO, it also inaugurates Mission Space's vision for deeper exploration and human ventures to Mars, lunar destinations, and beyond. As humanity increases its presence off Earth, delivering comprehensive, real-time solar intelligence becomes even more important for safeguarding missions and hardware.
Mission Space is also addressing the dangers solar storms pose to essential infrastructure. Swift, precise space weather forecasts can shield satellites, travel routes, autonomous systems, and various industries from disruptive coronal mass ejections or flares. By delivering advance warnings, the company enables customers to preserve their assets and prepare contingencies.
Because space-based operations are now woven into Earth's economic and security framework, Mission Space endeavors to make these frontiers navigable with greater assurance.
Our long-term ambition is to field a 24-satellite constellation. These satellites will occupy two orbital planes, ensuring at least one unit passes through the Polar Cusp every hour. Each spacecraft in this network will carry ZOHAR-I instruments.
Currently, we are finalizing our SEED funding round, which will help finance the deployment of the constellation's second half.
We believe there is a robust market for both services and raw data sales. Initially, we will focus on:
1. Forecasting Services and Industry Products: Based on gaps noted in the latest SWAG Group report and related studies, there is unmet demand for timely, high-resolution, multi-point space weather insights. Our orbital network is designed to satisfy that need.
2. Data Sales to Government Agencies: Organizations such as NOAA are actively investing in space weather resources. NOAA's 2024 budget, for example, allocates around 20 million dollars for initial systems that collect and process space weather data.
We are creating offerings that simplify space weather risk management, supplying clarity where existing systems are often confusing. Customers commonly struggle to interpret complex data and require guidance to assess how solar events may disrupt their operations.
From a technical standpoint, nowcasting tools are still limited, and predictions fall short of what users need for real-time decision-making. Mission Space addresses these challenges with two main innovations:
1. Mid-Term Forecasting Model: Our proprietary approach has demonstrated twice the accuracy of NOAA's standard model by drawing on historical data and multiple information sources. This gives operators additional warning before solar phenomena like flares occur.
2. Constellation-Based Real-Time Data: Our satellite network underpins short-term forecasting with continuous, multi-point readings. The system spots solar flares immediately and projects resulting effects on vital services and infrastructure.
Demand for actionable space weather knowledge is rising, but many potential users lack products that directly speak to their concerns. This gap forms a substantial commercial opportunity.
Our mission spans the divide between academic research and practical applications, providing real-world solutions to meet the growing appetite for space weather protection.
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