SAN FRANCISCO -- NASA has awarded a $24.3 million contract to the University of New Hampshire, Durham, for the development of Solar Wind Plasma Sensors as part of the Lagrange 1 Series project under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Next Program. This initiative aims to enhance understanding of solar winds and their impact on Earth.
The contract, announced on October 24, involves the design, analysis, fabrication, integration, testing, and evaluation of two sensors that will study the Sun's constant outflow of solar wind. The sensors are scheduled for launch in 2029 and 2032.
The data collected will support NOAA's efforts to provide timely warnings regarding potential disruptions to radio and GPS systems caused by solar storms. Over the next nine years, the University of New Hampshire will collaborate with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, to complete the project.
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center will utilize data from the sensors to characterize coronal mass ejections, interplanetary shocks, and high-speed flows associated with coronal holes. The oversight of the Lagrange 1 Series project will involve both NOAA and NASA, with NOAA managing the program and NASA collaborating with commercial and academic partners for the development and launch of the instruments.