Illustrative: satellite orbits, their ground swaths or the lines of sight a receiver keeps

Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Course catalogue · Technology and Digital Systems

Cyber, Digital and Space Systems

Space systems, space weather and navigation

Space systems, space weather and navigation, taught twice over: as the working methods of the field and as its frontier since 2024, with labs on the Academy's tools, open data and the Nexus Standards.

Core course Frontier course

The discipline

01Core course · L2 Intermediate

Space systems, space weather and navigation: foundations and practice

This area covers the satellites, ground segments and services that provide positioning, navigation, timing and communication, and the risks to those space assets from space weather, debris, interference and attack.

Level
L2 Intermediate
Study time
about 24 hours (planning estimate)
Status
In authoring
Prerequisites
An L1 course in the area, or an entry review

Why now

Informs collision, insurance and continuity risk for satellite-dependent services and long-term orbital sustainability. European Space Agency, ESA Space Environment Report 2026, 14 September 2026

Learning outcomes

  1. Define global navigation satellite system and the other key terms of the discipline and use them correctly in a written case
  2. Explain positioning, navigation and timing and satellite communications with a worked example and its source
  3. Apply the discipline's method to a documented case and explain each result with its source
  4. Analyse a named case against space weather and its effects, stating evidence, date and limits

Modules

  1. Positioning, navigation and timing
    • Positioning, navigation and timing
    • Satellite communications
    • Space weather and its effects
  2. Space debris and sustainability
    • Space debris and sustainability
    • Interference, jamming and spoofing
    • Ground segment resilience
  3. Space system dependency of critical services
    • Space system dependency of critical services
    • Space governance and data policy
  4. Lab: the discipline's method
    • A conjunction's probability of collision follows from the predicted miss distance, the combined position uncertainty of both objects and their combined size; an uncertainty that is too small or too large moves the figure by orders of magnitude, and the manoeuvre decision compares it with a threshold near one in ten thousand.
    • Work the method through a documented case and explain each result
    • Read the method's sources and stated values

Labs with Academy tools

Nexus Standards

Teaches

  • NRS-T6 Earth observation and space systems risk
  • NRS-T5 Positioning, navigation and timing risk
  • NRS-H22 Hazard family: Solar-terrestrial storms
  • NRS-H23 Hazard family: Impacts and orbital hazards
  • NRS-H87 Hazard family: Space-based service loss
  • NRS-H106 Hazard family: Space technology and orbital infrastructure

Relies on

  • NS-1 The UNI and the artefact catalogue
  • NS-16 UNI application profile (how articles, documents, code, data, APIs and interfaces carry the UNI)
  • NRS-C1 Risk vocabulary and ontology
  • NRS-C2 Risk assessment method
  • NRS-C3 Hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity data
  • NRS-C4 Risk data model, identifiers and exchange
  • NRS-C7 Early warning, triggers and anticipatory action
  • NRS-T0 Exponential technology risk and responsible innovation

Assessment

  • 40%Lab recordWork the discipline's method through a documented case and explain each result with its source and date
  • 40%Case memoApply the discipline's methods to a named place or organisation, stating evidence and limits
  • 20%Key terms checkShort answers on the key terms, marked against the definitions

Delivery

  • Self-paced online, with the labs in the browser
  • Cohort study over six to eight weeks, with a weekly lab review
  • Co-delivered with a partner institution, inside its own courses

Partner on this course

  • Co-teach a module and bring a current case from your work
  • Host a cohort for your learners, with your own schedule and review
  • Contribute a lab: a dataset your institution publishes openly, or a model
  • Review the course content and its references before it opens
  • Translate the course and adapt its cases to your region

How institutions and experts take part

In the Academy LMS

Course on the learning platform
Intermediate, 4 topics
Cohort group
A community group for each cohort of learners
Achievement
Recorded on completion of the assessed work

References

  1. European Space Agency, ESA Space Environment Report 2026, 14 September 2026
  2. Kessler and Cour-Palais, Collision frequency of artificial satellites: The creation of a debris belt, 1978
  3. Liou and Johnson, Risks in Space from Orbiting Debris, 2006
  4. Vallado, Crawford, Hujsak and Kelso, Revisiting Spacetrack Report #3, 2006
02Live map

Earth observation in the Amazon Basin

Land cover, vegetation, snow and sea ice, with true-colour imagery one switch away, over the Amazon Basin.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 2

Earth observation

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

Earth observation, framed on the Amazon Basin.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONETSources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • GHRSST Level 4 MUR analyses, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; distributed by the NASA Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
  • Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
  • NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • Past year, daily temperature and sunshine (NASA POWER): These data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program..
  • Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • Optional layers (10 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
  • Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Snow cover: VIIRS NOAA-20 NDSI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Sea ice concentration: GHRSST MUR, NASA JPL PO.DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
  • True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026

03How learning runs

How learning runs, as a process you can run

Select a scenario and press Play: course, pathway, practice, faculty, cells and record.

04What is changing

What is changing, with standards and evidence

Space systems, space weather and navigation: frontier methods

The methods, data, tools and studies that changed space systems, space weather and navigation between 2024 and 2026, taught by reproducing them on open data.

Level
L3 Advanced
Study time
about 28 hours (planning estimate)
Status
Planned
Prerequisites
Space systems, space weather and navigation: foundations and practice; Working knowledge of a scripting language (Python or R) for the labs

Why now

Informs collision, insurance and continuity risk for satellite-dependent services and long-term orbital sustainability. European Space Agency, ESA Space Environment Report 2026, 14 September 2026

Learning outcomes

  1. Explain what changed in space systems, space weather and navigation since 2024 and cite the studies, data or rules behind each change
  2. Reproduce ESA Space Environment Report 2026 warns of accelerating debris risk on open data and state the uncertainty of the result
  3. Evaluate a 2024 to 2026 study: its question, data, method, limits and what it changes for practice
  4. Design an analysis that combines a frontier method with the faculty's instruments, and justify each choice

Modules

  1. ESA Space Environment Report 2026 warns of accelerating debris risk
    • ESA reports over 4,000 new payloads launched in 2025, insufficient end-of-life disposal from congested orbits, and adds a measure of ground casualty risk from re-entering fragments.
    • Informs collision, insurance and continuity risk for satellite-dependent services and long-term orbital sustainability.
    • European Space Agency, 14 September 2026
  2. NOAA SOLAR-1 enters operational space weather service
    • NOAA's SOLAR-1, formerly SWFO-L1, entered operations at Lagrange point 1 as the first US satellite dedicated to continuous operational space weather observation, delivering coronal mass ejection imagery within about 30 minutes.
    • Improves warning lead time and continuity for operators of grids, satellites and navigation-dependent services.
    • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 10 June 2026
  3. UN agencies urge states to protect satellite navigation from interference
    • ITU, ICAO and IMO jointly asked member states to curb GNSS jamming and spoofing, make dependent systems more resilient, retain conventional navigation backups and report harmful interference.
    • Highlights positioning and timing dependency as a cross-sector risk for aviation, shipping and telecom services.
    • International Telecommunication Union, 25 March 2025
  4. NASA and NOAA say the Sun has reached solar maximum
    • NASA, NOAA and the Solar Cycle Prediction Panel announced Solar Cycle 25 had entered its maximum period, which could last about another year, after the strongest geomagnetic storm in two decades in May 2024.
    • Signals elevated near-term space weather risk to satellites, navigation, radio communication and power grids.
    • NASA, 15 October 2024
  5. Reproduction lab
    • Extend the discipline's method with one frontier method and compare its results
    • State the uncertainty and the limits of the result
    • Peer review against a shared checklist

Labs with Academy tools

Nexus Standards

Teaches

  • NRS-T6 Earth observation and space systems risk
  • NRS-T5 Positioning, navigation and timing risk
  • NRS-H22 Hazard family: Solar-terrestrial storms
  • NRS-H23 Hazard family: Impacts and orbital hazards
  • NRS-H87 Hazard family: Space-based service loss
  • NRS-H106 Hazard family: Space technology and orbital infrastructure

Relies on

  • NS-1 The UNI and the artefact catalogue
  • NS-16 UNI application profile (how articles, documents, code, data, APIs and interfaces carry the UNI)
  • NRS-C1 Risk vocabulary and ontology
  • NRS-C2 Risk assessment method
  • NRS-C3 Hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity data
  • NRS-C4 Risk data model, identifiers and exchange
  • NRS-C7 Early warning, triggers and anticipatory action
  • NRS-T0 Exponential technology risk and responsible innovation

Assessment

  • 50%Method reproductionReproduce one frontier method on open data and state the uncertainty of the result
  • 30%Study reviewA critical review of a 2024 to 2026 study: question, data, method, limits, what it changes
  • 20%Peer reviewReview two other learners' reproductions against a shared checklist

Delivery

  • Self-paced online, with the labs in the browser
  • Cohort study over six to eight weeks, with a weekly lab review
  • Co-delivered with a partner institution, inside its own courses

Partner on this course

  • Co-teach a module and bring a current case from your work
  • Host a cohort for your learners, with your own schedule and review
  • Contribute a lab: a dataset your institution publishes openly, or a model
  • Review the course content and its references before it opens
  • Translate the course and adapt its cases to your region

How institutions and experts take part

In the Academy LMS

Course on the learning platform
Expert, 5 topics
Cohort group
A community group for each cohort of learners
Achievement
Recorded on completion of the assessed work

References

  1. European Space Agency, ESA Space Environment Report 2026, 14 September 2026
  2. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA's SOLAR-1 enters new era of space weather monitoring, 10 June 2026
  3. International Telecommunication Union, Protect satellite navigation from interference, UN agencies urge, 25 March 2025
  4. NASA, NASA, NOAA: Sun Reaches Maximum Phase in 11-Year Solar Cycle, 15 October 2024
  5. Kessler and Cour-Palais, Collision frequency of artificial satellites: The creation of a debris belt, 1978
  6. Liou and Johnson, Risks in Space from Orbiting Debris, 2006
  7. Vallado, Crawford, Hujsak and Kelso, Revisiting Spacetrack Report #3, 2006
05Take part

Take part in the work

Start from who you are.

06Questions

Questions, answers and key terms

Is the course free?
Yes. Every course and learning material of Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium, is free to study, self-paced or with a cohort. Ordinary participation has no fee; paid work, internships and fellowships are separate arrangements.
What does completing a course give me?
A completion record: the course, its version, the date and what was assessed, private by default and shared by you. It stacks into discipline, department and programme achievements. A record states what was studied and assessed and does not certify competence; it is not a licence, a professional title or an employment status.
Where do the data and the places come from?
Every faculty teaches on a twin of a real place built from open data; each layer carries its provider, licence and date, and every result on the Academy states its source. Maps and figures are indicators for teaching, never an assessment of a place.
How do I take part beyond the course?
Form a competence cell of three to seven people, study a shared pathway, take a supervised assignment in the National Working Groups, or bring a cohort from your institution. For organisations.

Key terms

Term

Global navigation satellite system

Satellite constellations that provide positioning, navigation and timing worldwide.

Term

Space weather

Conditions on the Sun and in near-Earth space that can disrupt satellites, power grids and radio.

Term

Geomagnetic storm

A disturbance of Earth's magnetic field caused by solar activity.

Term

Orbital debris

Defunct satellites and fragments in orbit that threaten operating spacecraft.

ReportsContribute

Contribute evidence from this page.

Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

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