Space Weather Observations for Future Generations
NOAA's Office of Space Weather Observations (SWO) develops, deploys, and sustains NOAA operational satellite systems that study space weather and safeguard society. SWO will provide users with real-time data for generating space weather products and services, enabling them to provide timely and accurate forecasts, warnings, and alerts. The SWO office is responsible for the Space Weather Follow-On program and the Space Weather Next program.
SWO PROGRAMS
Space Weather Follow-On (SWFO)
The Space Weather Follow-On program sustains NOAA’s foundational set of space-based space weather observations and measurements collected by legacy missions (DSCOVR, ACE, and SOHO) to ensure continuity of critical data. The SWFO program includes the Nation’s first operational coronagraph which is aboard GOES-19, NOAA’s first purpose-built space weather observatory called SWFO-L1, and ground services to support SWFO-L1 Observatory operations, data collection, and product generation/distribution.
Space Weather Next (SW Next)
The Space Weather Next program will maintain and extend space weather observations from a range of different observing points, selected to most efficiently provide comprehensive knowledge of the Sun and the near-Earth space environment.
Leadership
SWO in Action
News
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On June 25, 2024, GOES-U, the final satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series, launched from NASA’s Kennedy…
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NOAA contributes 90% of the weather information used by the defense and intelligence communities.…
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The JPSS VIIRS Day/Night Band, with its low-light sensitivity, captures auroras and shows how solar…
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The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has released the results of the nation’s first…