Mike Hapgood

Although the Carrington Event of 1859 is typically cited as the first extreme space weather event of the scientific era, it is not the earliest example of modern human technology being impacted by geomagnetic activity. The literature includes reliable accounts of disturbances to telegraph equipment during geomagnetic storms dating to the late 1840s, but the rediscovery by Cade III (2013, https://doi.org/10.1002/swe.20091 ) of a report published in the journal Nature (1871, https://doi.org/10.1038/004441a0 ) suggests that the first recorded space weather impact may have occurred in 1841. The Nature article reports interference in the telegraph system of the South Devon Railway Company (England) on 18 October 1841 due to a “very intense magnetic disturbance” which caused the departure of the 10:05 p.m. express train from Exeter to Newton Abbot to be delayed by 16 min. However, our research reveals that the railway line from Exeter to Newton Abbot was not opened until 1846, so the timing of the events reported in Nature (some 30 years after the event) cannot be correct. In this study, we present the results of an investigation into contemporary records and geomagnetic observations that suggest the misreported 1841 event occurred several years later, on 18 October 1848. This places it after the first recorded event: the interference in electric telegraph systems of the Midland Railway in England during the auroral display of 19 March 1847. Nevertheless, the Exeter event still represents one of the earliest recorded examples of space weather impacting technical infrastructure.

This commentary argues that there is an urgent need to develop a scientific consensus on how microwave beams from space‐based solar power (SBSP) satellites will interact with plasma in the ionosphere. Whilst the SBSP concept dates back to the 1970s, it is now gaining traction around the world as a technology that could contribute baseline power critical to achieving Net Zero. Microwave transmission is the most favored option to deliver that power to the ground. Past studies show that we need better understanding of how microwave transmission will interact with the ionosphere and thus how SBSP operations will be constrained by those interactions, especially in strong space weather conditions. We outline how those interactions may limit power transmission and also where they have the potential to interfere with existing radio applications. We suggest actions to raise awareness of these constraints and to provide policy‐makers and operators with robust advice by developing an up‐to‐date scientific consensus on SBSP interactions with the ionosphere.

Dr. Jennifer Gannon passed away suddenly on 2024 May 2 in Greenbelt, MD. Dr. Gannon had served as an editor for the Space Weather journal since April 2019, and she was the longest‐serving editor on the current board, having started under the previous editor‐in‐chief, Dr. Delores Knipp.

Dr. Jennifer Gannon passed away suddenly on 2024 May 2 in Greenbelt, MD. Dr. Gannon had served as an editor for the Space Weather journal since April 2019, and she was the longest-serving editor on the current board, having started under the previous editor-in-chief, Dr. Delores Knipp. Abstract content goes here

Key Points: The editors thank the 2022 peer reviewers

Key Point: The editors thank the 2021 peer reviewers

The 3 February 2022 launch of 49 of SpaceX's Starlink satellites has provided a fascinating example of how even modest space weather can have significant practical and financial consequences. Enhanced atmospheric drag associated with a minor geomagnetic storm led to the loss of the majority of the 49 launched satellites. Although the 36th launch by SpaceX in the past 3 years, it was the first that experienced stormy space weather. We expect more stormy space weather as Solar Cycle 25 ramps up toward its peak expected in 2025. A subsequent Starlink launch on 21 February used a higher initial orbit at 300 km, reducing the payload from 49 to 46 satellites, and can be considered an agile response to the space weather losses experienced 2 weeks earlier. Lessons to be learned by the space industry and the space weather community are discussed, including a better dialog, nuanced understanding of space weather risks associated with modest events, but also an opportunity to investigate the space environment in relatively unexplored regions such as very low and high low Earth orbits.

This paper discusses the strategic importance of contemporary ionospheric science. It outlines some key features of the evolution of the science from the first practical experiments in the 1920s through to the diverse inter-disciplinary science of today. This science includes fundamental studies of partially ionised plasmas and of the complex systems that arise when those plasmas are coupled to neutral atmospheres and magnetospheres. However, the science also has great potential to deliver societal benefits if the science can be refined to obtain a deep physical understanding of ionospheric phenomena and that understanding is then transitioned into use by operational services such as forecasts of ionospheric conditions. Thus, ionospheric science is now very similar in form to other environment sciences and, the same as them, needs to be positioned in a diverse scientific culture that supports the full range of science research, including not only curiosity-driven studies, but also targeted research to deepen our physical understanding to a level that is sufficient to enable a transition to operational services. That diversity also includes support for that transition and also facilitates feedback from operations teams to researchers. Such feedback can be a powerful stimulus for future research.