ESA Stages Carrington-Level Solar Storm Drill, Testing Satellite Survival Protocols
ESA mission control teams recently faced their worst nightmare scenario: a simulated Carrington-level solar storm disrupting all navigation and communications. The intensive drill, conducted for the upcoming Sentinel-1D mission, revealed critical vulnerabilities in satellite operations during extreme space weather events that could become reality sooner than expected.
The Ultimate Space Weather Stress Test
Mission controllers at the European Space Agency recently confronted what space weather experts consider the “big one”—a solar storm of historical proportions that could potentially cripple modern satellite infrastructure. According to reports from the agency’s operations center in Darmstadt, teams underwent an unprecedented simulation recreating conditions similar to the 1859 Carrington Event, widely regarded as the most powerful geomagnetic storm ever recorded.