NOAA’s SOLAR-1 enters new era of space weather monitoring June 10, 2026 NOAA’s Space weather Observations at L1 to Advance Readiness – 1 (SOLAR-1) observatory has officially entered operational service, marking a major milestone for the nation’s resilience to space weather events. SOLAR-1 is the first U.S. satellite designed exclusively for continuous, operational space weather observations.“SOLAR-1 will provide improved observations and high-quality 24/7 data about our sun," said Irene Parker, acting assistant administrator for NOAA Satellite & Information Service (NESDIS). "SOLAR-1 continues the observations necessary to ensure that we are prepared for solar storms, so we can better protect the nation’s critical terrestrial and space-based infrastructure and future crewed space-flights.” A million-mile journey to deep spaceSOLAR-1, previously known as Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1), successfully launched on September 24, 2025 at 7:30 a.m. EST from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Over the next four months, the spacecraft trekked nearly one million miles to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 (L1), where it is now parked to continuously monitor solar wind and observe coronal mass ejections (CME) emitted from the sun. Before reaching initial operational capability, SOLAR-1 underwent a rigorous, eight-month, post-launch testing and commissioning period. During this…
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NOAA’s SOLAR-1 enters new era of space weather monitoring
Source: NOAA — US Government, Public Domain