In the future, the Russian constellation of satellites will be able to conduct research that will allow predicting the northern lights and the latitudes at which they may appear. This was announced on Thursday, April 29, in an interview with RIA Novosti by the head of the Russian Space Systems (RSC) department, Alexei Kovalev.
“With the help of measurements carried out in space, it will even be possible to estimate the likelihood of the appearance of the aurora borealis with a forecast of the latitudes at which they can be observed,” he said.
According to the specialist, the RKS has already created onboard equipment that registers changes in magnetic and radiation fields, on the basis of which it is possible to predict their occurrence and minimize their negative consequences. In the future, it is possible to create an emergency warning system for all anomalous phenomena that appear in space, added Kovalev.
In late February, Russia began deploying an orbital constellation to monitor the Arctic climate. The Arktika-M satellites are designed to monitor the climate and environment in the Arctic region.
In December 2020, Dmitry Rogozin, General Director of Roscosmos, announced that there are 96 satellites in the Russian civilian orbital group. This number did not include military satellites.