A national research team led by University of Alberta space physicist Ian Mann is developing a Canadian satellite mission dedicated to understanding how space weather affects Earth's climate system.
Developed by a consortium of Canadian universities in partnership with Toronto-based SFL Missions, the RADICALS satellite mission, launching late in 2027, will study the transport of space radiation into Earth's atmosphere and its impact on climate.
In addition to improving space weather forecasting, the mission will provide a better understanding of the effects of space radiation on technological systems, including space weather effects on communication systems that can affect aircraft, especially when flying over the poles. Severe space weather can also significantly damage satellites and interrupt telecommunications networks, as well as space-based global communication and navigation systems.
Spinning end over end in a near-polar orbit around Earth, the satellite will carry three multi-sensor instrument suites — including two X-ray imagers, a high-energy particle telescope suite and a package of two boom-mounted magnetometers with a total of 11 sensors.
"RADICALS will be a voyage of discovery to understand the space weather impacts on the Earth's climate system," says Mann, principal investigator for the project and a former chair and rapporteur for the Expert Group on Space Weather at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
The RADICALS project is funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Government of Alberta and the Canadian Space Agency.
