Satellites to give early warning of solar storm emergencies

The risk of solar storms is growing, Nasa said last week, threatening astronauts, satellites, power networks and potentially the internet.

- James Tapper

But soon humanity will have a new line of defence.

On Tuesday, the US space agency will launch three space weather satellites that will give an early warning of the worst eruptions of solar radiation.

Earth's magnetic field usually protects us from these particles by deflecting them into space. It is this interaction that creates the aurora borealis and aurora australis - the northern and southern lights.

But serious geomagnetic storms create electrical surges on Earth that have knocked out power grids and brought down satellites, and a Nasa study published last week warned we are likely to experience more as the sun becomes increasingly active.

The three satellites will enable astrophysicists to detect particles on their way towards Earth. The data will give about 30 minutes' notice of a coming solar storm, allowing power grids to take emergency action.