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Perceptive Space emerges to improve space weather predictions.
Rocket launch companies satellite operators, rocket launch providers. And even aviation companies depend on accurate forecasts of “space meteorological conditions” including geomagnetic weather and solar flares to guide their activities. However, this information is provided mainly by the government together outdated and inaccurate methods of modeling.
The Perceptive Space A Canadian company that came out of the shadows on Tuesday, wants to make an impact. The company believes that advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning will boost quality of forecasting space weather as well as bring near-real-time updates.
The company was established in the year 2000 by Padmashri Suresh. An engineer who began her career on cubesat and sounding rocket mission during her time at Utah State University before embarking on the NASA-funded PhD on machine learning and space weather. She was able to see firsthand how inaccurate information about space weather can impact the launch process. Satellite operations and the performance of instruments. After graduation she entered the tech sector. Although she said it was a matter of waiting until the appropriate moment to start a space-weather company.
“Fast forward to 2022,” SpaceX has lost nearly 38 to 40 satellites and space weather was the primary driver,” she said. “I believed that maybe this was the critical mass that drove me to the decision to start this business.”
Space weather made the news this year as a much stronger than anticipated solar maximum caused devastating consequences for some satellite operators.
NASA
NASA along with NOAA collect data on space weather together satellite data, magnetometers and radar on the ground. They generate its forecasts with large fundamental physics-based models certain of which need to be run by supercomputers. However, even with this old rivalry, Suresh admits that “it’s a difficult issue” to resolve.
“You’re viewing physics on various dimensions,” she said. “You first must understand the Sun. Then, you must understand the environment around it that extends from it’s Sun up to Earth. There are a myriad of drivers that really affect the general space weather we encounter.”
However, she claims that we are able to extract more information from data with AI because of the increasing availability of high-performance computing, as well as advances in the use of prediction algorithms. Also, there’s more data to be found, thanks to the increased amount of satellites in the low-Earth orbit.
Investors such as Panache Ventures, Metaplanet, 7Percent Ventures, Mythos Ventures and AIN Ventures are contributing $2.8 million to the effort. Suresh claimed that the funds will be used to speed up product development from a prototype to a full-fledged service available to any launcher or satellite operator on any orbit by the end of next year. The bulk of the funds will go towards expanding the team from its current five employees to a total of 10 over this year.
The Perceptive Space emerges to improve space weather predictions.
Perceptive
Perceptive has already launched a trial program in place, as well as a few initial enrollments, and customers who are giving early feedback and the company hopes to bring more people on board the program. After the product goes in operation users can join a subscription that offers long- and short-term forecasting in various pricing levels depending on the amount of assets, the orbit and other variables.
In the long-term, Suresh said that accurate information on space weather is essential to increase how many satellites are that are in low Earth orbit, or for being able to sustain presence of humans in space. She also pointed out that International Space Station mission controllers make use of space weather data as an input for determining whether it is safe for astronauts to go on spacewalks and when it is appropriate for companies such as SpaceX to launch spacecrafts to or from Earth. Space companies too use weather to assess the radiation exposure their pilots are getting.
“There’s the human factor,” she said.
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Q&A
What is Perceptive Space’s goal?
To improve space weather predictions.
How will Perceptive Space achieve this?
By providing more accurate forecasting and better safety measures for space operations.
Why is this important?
It enhances the safety and reliability of space missions.
