NASA has announced the use of a new model for predicting dangerous space weather that combines satellite data and artificial intelligence capabilities to provide timely warnings ahead of any geomagnetic impacts on Earth. The model, titled DAGGER, was built using deep learning AI and, with inputs from heliophysics space missions and ground stations on Earth, is the first model capable of predicting the geomagnetic effects from space storms on a global scale, 30 minutes ahead of any impacts.

Space weather prediction will become increasingly relevant as the next solar maximum, or the highest peak in the Sun’s 11-year cycle, approaches in 2025. The risk of solar storms affecting critical infrastructure continues to rise alongside our dependence on communications technologies, both on the ground and in orbit. This risk is best exemplified by a 2022 storm that downed up to 40 recently launched SpaceX Starlink satellites. With DAGGER being open source, researchers hope critical infrastructure operators in the electric and communications sectors will begin to integrate its warnings into their preparedness activities. Read more at NASA.