A Tool for Defining Solar Particle Access to the Magnetosphere (SPAM) for Satellite Anomaly Attribution

The goal of the proposed project is ultimately to provide a tool for commercial and government satellite operators and designers that can be used to identify the cause and monitor the real time likelihood of on-orbit satellite anomalies. More specifically, the tool will provide real time situational awareness and information for identifying whether an observed satellite anomaly is likely related to an impact from a Solar Energetic Particle (SEP). The work will fulfill the NASA need defined in the ‘Space Weather O2R/R2O Technology Development’ subtopic. This subtopic solicits, ‘specifications and/or forecasts of the energetic particle and plasma conditions encountered by spacecraft within Earth’s magnetosphere, as well as products that directly benefit end-users such as spacecraft operators’. This project will fully address the subtopic request by providing both an energetic particle model and a tool that will translate that model output into both retrospective and real time actionable information for spacecraft operators and designers. During Phase I, the project will produce a data driven model of SEP access near Earth and evaluate its utility to the government and commercial satellite industry for understanding anomalies. In Phase II, the particle access model will be extended to include more species and energies and will be incorporated into a tool that allows users to input their satellite specifics and determine the precise particle flux and its impact at any location along any orbit at any time.

The anticipated result of this project is a tailored tool for satellite industry users that brings together the expertise, data, and models needed to simplify satellite anomaly analysis and monitoring and improve its accuracy. It is expected that NASA satellite operators and designers will use this tool to limit the impact of the space radiation environment on its Earth orbiting satellites and enhance on-orbit performance.

The satellite anomaly analysis and monitoring tool developed by this project is expected to equally benefit all satellite industry users including both government (NASA, DOD, NOAA) and commercial users with satellites in near Earth space. In addition, the tool may support the insurance market which requires statistically supported identification of space weather related satellite anomalies.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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