Planetek Italia plays a pivotal role in the field of space weather, offering comprehensive solutions that span from upstream activities to ground segment operations and downstream services. In the upstream segment, Planetek is involved in the design and development of space weather monitoring systems. A notable example is their contribution to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Swing mission, which aims to monitor the ionosphere using a nanosatellite. Planetek is responsible for developing the Mission Operations Center for this mission, ensuring the collection and processing of critical space weather data[1]. This involves creating sophisticated software systems that can handle the complexities of space weather data, from initial acquisition to real-time processing.

This center is designed to provide real-time access to actionable insights, enabling timely responses to space weather events that could impact communication and navigation systems on Earth.

Planetek collaborated also with INAF in the framework of the ASPIS project – ASI SPace weather InfraStructure – which is a comprehensive initiative aimed at developing a robust space weather infrastructure and with INGV for the PEOS project -Processing Earth Observation from Space – which is an initiative aimed at advancing the capabilities of Earth observation and Space Weather data processing.

The projects aim to provide real-time analysis, nowcasting, and forecasting services for space weather, leveraging the expertise of the Italian scientific community and integrating with existing international space weather services.

In the field of Downstream Services Planetek has also performed different analysis and studies about the impact of the Space Weather in the mediterranean area to define the insights and the services useful for the stakeholders in understanding and mitigating the effects of space weather on critical infrastructures and flying assets like satellites and drones.

The holistic approach, encompassing upstream development, ground segment operations, and downstream services, gives to Planetek a new way of providing services in the space weather domain.

Contact person: Cristoforo Abbattista – email him as “abbattista” at the domain “planetek.it”

References

[1] Planetek to develop Mission Operations Center for ESA’s Swing Space …