Topline
A fleet of spacecraft could one day be used to geoengineer space, fortifying Earth’s magnetic field and deliberately weakening solar superstorms before they strike Earth, according to a provocative study published in Space Weather. The aim would be to mitigate the effects of a solar superstorm, which could trigger massive power grid failures, global GPS outages, the destruction of thousands of satellites, and prolonged internet and communication blackouts, according to The Planetary Society. However, such a technology could also potentially dampen displays of the northern lights. The paper — essentially a thought experiment — suggests that satellites could release clouds of gas into Earth’s magnetosphere to soften the impact of incoming clouds of charged particles from the sun. “While humans become more reliant on Earth’s space environment, the potential for significant harm from severe space weather continues to grow,” states the paper, whose authors call the concept “StormWall.”
Key Facts
StormWall proposes releasing clouds of gas in the path of a coronal mass ejection — a cloud of charged particles from the sun. Once ionized by sunlight, the gas would become plasma.
Plasma is the highly energetic fourth state of matter, after solid, liquid and gas. It conducts electricity and reacts strongly to magnetic and electromagnetic fields — such as those found in the solar wind.
By increasing plasma density in Earth’s magnetosphere — the planet’s giant magnetic shield — StormWall could make Earth’s magnetic shield harder to disturb, the researchers argue.
StormWall is inspired by a natural process that already occurs during major geomagnetic storms. Earth’s upper atmosphere releases oxygen ions into space, adding mass to the magnetic field.
How ‘StormWall’ would work
In simulations of the powerful May 2024 geomagnetic storm, six spacecraft released a barium-like gas for 14 hours. The model showed major reductions in storm intensity. The intensity of a major geomagnetic storm could be reduced by 50% or more, according to the research. “Since humans have been in space, we’ve been trying to predict what’s going to happen in the space environment,” said research lead Brian Walsh, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Boston University’s College of Engineering. “But we came up with a model that could flip the paradigm. It’s like people in a village who see a river flooding — maybe they can predict when that will happen, but probably what’s even better is if they could build a storm wall. That’s what we’re proposing here.” Walsh and his colleagues state that a massive once-in-a-century geomagnetic storm would cause devastating damage in space and on Earth, with power grid costs alone topping $2.4 trillion.
Preventing Another Carrington Event
A great example of the kind of solar event StormWall would be designed to mitigate is the so-called Carrington Event on Sept. 1-2, 1859. A solar superstorm, it was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history. “It generated reports of auroras from Panama, Colombia, Hawaii and the Caribbean,” said Tom Kerss, astronomer, astrophotographer and author of Northern Lights: The Definitive Guide to Auroras, in an interview. “That was an extraordinary opportunity to witness something exotic, but it wasn’t entirely harmless — telegraph operators received electric shocks, and some short-lived fires occurred.” Critically, the Carrington Event of 1859 occurred just before modern electrical infrastructure existed. An event of that magnitude today could be “significantly more damaging due to knock-on effects from widespread power loss,” according to Kerrs.
Could ‘StormWall’ Dim The Northern Lights?
Because auroras are powered by charged particles and electrical currents in Earth’s upper atmosphere, weakening a geomagnetic storm could also reduce the brightness and reach of the northern lights. “It’s an extraordinary thought that one day, an event that would spark global aurora sightings could be mitigated by human hands, but there’s an argument to be made for investigating the feasibility of such an intervention,” said Kerss. “It’s helpful to keep in mind that magnificent aurora experiences are available even without such severe geomagnetic storms,” said Kerss. “The storms that bring the Northern Lights to the U.K. and lower 48 states aren’t dangerous enough to warrant mitigation.”
Practical Questions
The proposed system would require an enormous but not impossible amount of material. In the May 2024 simulation, the spacecraft released about 384 tons of gas. Including tanks and spacecraft buses, the full payload would total more than 436 tons in geosynchronous orbit. The researchers suggest this could be within the reach of current or near-future heavy-lift launch systems. However, the concept faces major practical and environmental questions. Launching that much material into orbit would be expensive. More importantly, scientists do not yet know the full consequences of injecting hundreds of tons of ionized gas into Earth’s magnetosphere. “Protecting satellites by other means is probably cheaper and easier to engineer,” said Kerss.
