Risk Academy, a Nexortium programmeTechnology and Digital SystemsDepartment of Cyber, Digital and Space Systems

Positioning, navigation, timing, satellite communication, space weather and debris

Space systems, space weather and navigation

Space systems, space weather and navigation covers the satellites, ground segments and services that provide positioning, navigation, timing and communication, and the risks to them from space weather, debris, interference and attack.

risksacademy.comtechnology-digitaldiscipline

Space systems, space weather and navigation, drawn as a circuit: 0 primary courses open, 0 in preparation, 2 approved for authoring and 0 also taught here, across 8 subtopics and 2 connected disciplines. Courses: RAS-418 L2 approved for authoring, RAT-262 L2 approved for authoring.
Space systems, space weather and navigation at a glance. Drawn as a circuit.
  • Open, 0
  • In preparation, 0
  • Approved for authoring, 2
  • Subtopics, 8
Course codes from the curriculum; study levels L1 to L4.
Twin builder and simulatorWest Cornwall: Goonhilly and the Porthcurno cable landings4 twin generators, 8 layers, 3 instruments
courses open now
0
in preparation
0
approved for authoring
2
satellite dishes
4

Twin figures for West Cornwall: Goonhilly and the Porthcurno cable landings, counted from its layers at their stated dates.

Twin builder and simulator.

For Space systems, space weather and navigation: the faculty's twin of the Lizard and Penwith on the planet map, the globe and in 3D. Pick a generator, switch layers, run the instruments; every layer prints its provider and date.

West Cornwall: Goonhilly and the Porthcurno cable landings: a flat plan of the faculty twin. Terrain 0 to 245 m; 4 satellite dishes; 74 communication masts and towers; 12 telephone exchanges; 7 data centres and cable landing stations; 12 aerodromes; 1 telecom offices; Communication line 161 km; 729 known exploited vulnerabilities since 2023-10-17; Night-time lights, VIIRS day-night band: live, loads in the twin. Contours every 25 metres from the elevation grid; communication cables by class; ground infrastructure as marks.
West Cornwall: Goonhilly and the Porthcurno cable landings, United Kingdom. Flat plan of the same data: relief as contours from the inline grid, the mapped ground infrastructure by kind, the mapped cables and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices with WebGL once its data and library have been checked.
  • Terrain 0 to 245 m
  • 4 satellite dishes
  • 74 communication masts and towers
  • 12 telephone exchanges
  • 7 data centres and cable landing stations
  • 12 aerodromes
  • 1 telecom offices
  • Communication line 161 km
  • 729 known exploited vulnerabilities since 2023-10-17
  • Night-time lights, VIIRS day-night band: live, loads in the twin
Credits and dates per layer are listed under the stage. Relief in the twin is exaggerated ×1.5 for legibility.

Drag to move, right drag or Shift with a drag to turn and tilt, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows move, Shift with arrows turn and tilt, + and - zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.

Flat plan of the same data: relief as contours from the inline grid, the mapped ground infrastructure by kind, the mapped cables and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices with WebGL once its data and library have been checked.

The map loads from this site as it nears the view (MapLibre 6.9.1, checked by hash).

The discipline in brief.

The discipline teaches orbit propagation with SGP4 from published element sets and pass prediction for a ground station, the faculty's instrument on the Goonhilly dishes of the twin, link and ground-segment resilience, holdover when timing is lost, space weather read from the planetary Kp and Dst indices against the services that depend on it, jamming and spoofing of navigation signals, orbital debris and the mitigation requirements of ISO 24113:2023, and space governance and data policy. A graduate can propagate an orbit and compute a station's passes, state the dependency of a critical service on timing and the holdover it needs, and read a geomagnetic storm forecast against those dependencies.

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. It is taught in the department of Cyber, Digital and Space Systems, Faculty of Technology and Digital Systems, through courses still to be authored.

What the discipline covers.

8 subtopics, taught across its courses and labs.

Courses
0 open, 0 in preparation
Levels
None yet
Labs
Named when the courses are authored
  • Positioning, navigation and timing
  • Satellite communications
  • Space weather and its effects
  • Space debris and sustainability
  • Interference, jamming and spoofing
  • Ground segment resilience
  • Space system dependency of critical services
  • Space governance and data policy

Not yet taught by a course: Space weather risk and degraded operations; Space system dependency and resilience.

What is changing now.

Recent developments in space systems, space weather and navigation, each with its source; sources checked on 16 October 2026. Summaries are short readings of the source; follow the link for the full account.

The faculty hub.

News and research as they are published, per discipline, with the faculty's other tools.

The newest research, preprints, news and humanitarian reports for Space systems, space weather and navigation, each with its source and date, load here. Open the research and news hub

No course yet.

No course has this as its primary discipline yet. It is listed so the gap stays visible.

The courses on its authoring list are named below.

2 courses approved for authoring.

Approved for authoringno enrolment and no achievement until authored and reviewed

  1. RAS-418Space Systems Dependency and ResilienceApproved for authoringL2 Intermediate, about 8 hours (estimate)
  2. RAT-262Space Weather Risk and Degraded OperationsApproved for authoringL2 Intermediate, about 8 hours (estimate)

What you can earn here.

  1. Course achievements

    One for each of the 0 courses with this primary discipline, when you pass its assessed activities; 0 can be earned now.

  2. Nexus: Space and food

    Courses in connected disciplines and a passed integrative task. In preparation.

Achievements record learning completed here; they do not certify competence. How recognition works.

Methods, frameworks and hazards.

From the Academy's risk taxonomy: the discipline's own entries and those of its primary courses, with how many courses teach each.

Hazard families

  1. Space weather and near-Earth objectsscope

Where the subject is worked on.

  • The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)Space and Earth ObservationCommunications and navigation, Space debris and sustainability, Space system resilience

Cited as places where the subject is practised; the institutions named are sources here, and Risk Academy hosts every course.

The two Foundry systems where it is practised.

  • Nexus FoundrySIG systemPositioning, navigation and timing integrityPNT Integrity room, Spectrum room
  • EOP systemSatellite acquisition planningAcquisition room

Nexus Foundry system pages describe what each system and its rooms are designed to do; they are not a service on offer, and studying here gives no access to them.

Terms used on this page.

Space systems, space weather and navigation

Prepare with a related course.

Open courses in connected disciplines teach the methods this discipline will build on.

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