What if we could install a huge airbag around the Earth? This is what American researchers propose in a study published at the beginning of June in the journal Space Weather. Their goal is not to protect our planet against a frontal impact, but to fight against certain harmful effects of our Sun. To do this, they want to launch a constellation of satellites capable of creating a plasma shield around the Earth to cushion the effects of the most violent solar storms.
These events are very rare but potentially catastrophic: if they hit our orbit and all the satellites there today, our entire global infrastructure could be paralyzed, details Live Science.
Every hundred years or so, the Sun releases immense clouds of plasma that cause megastorms. The latest dates back to 1859: the Carrington event caused fires and auroras visible from Earth. Today, such a phenomenon would have much more serious consequences: destruction of satellites, dose of lethal radiation for astronauts in orbit, massive power cuts, paralysis of the Internet.
The cost of the damage could amount to 3.4 trillion dollars (approximately 2.9 trillion euros), according to researchers. And we still have no way to really defend ourselves against it.
The biggest airbag in the world
This is where the StormWall project comes into play. The researchers propose placing six bus-sized satellites into orbit, about 36,000 kilometers above Earth. For example, the ISS is only 400 kilometers from us. These satellites would wait for the next “superstorm” to release significant quantities of a gas into the magnetosphere, the Earth’s natural magnetic shield.
This gas would then form an immense wall of plasma capable of damping and deflecting the cloud of solar particles before it reaches our planet. Simulations show that the system could have reduced the intensity of the major storm of May 2024, which cost American farmers around $500 million (around €436.3 million) by 84% due to GPS outages. In the case of ordinary storms, the reduction in intensity would be around 50%.
Ambitious, and therefore expensive
“It’s as if we could install an airbag in the magnetosphere,” summarizes Daniel Welling, co-author of the study. The advantage of this system is that it would only take a relatively small quantity of gas to release for the effects to be felt. The system “plays well above its class”, summarize the researchers.
You still have to be able to finance it. The satellites, with their immense fuel tanks, would be among the heaviest spacecraft ever launched, likely requiring rockets the size of the Starship from SpaceX. A budget that runs into billions of dollars. Not to mention that the gas canisters, once emptied, would have to be refilled or replaced.
The researchers also recognize that additional studies will be necessary to ensure that the gas released by the satellite does not affect the upper atmosphere, but are nevertheless confident: once deployed, the plasma wall would dissipate quickly, carried away by the solar wind.
Despite these challenges, several independent experts consider the project serious. “The proposal is very innovative and seems entirely feasible in the short term”, estimates Allison Jaynes of the University of Iowa.
