President Obama has issued an executive order requiring agencies to take individual steps and to coordinate with each other to lessen the potential impact of solar flares, geomagnetic disturbances and other “space weather” events that can have impacts on GPS systems, satellites, aviation, the electrical power grid and other critical infrastructure.
“The federal government must have (1) the capability to predict and detect a space weather event, (2) the plans and programs necessary to alert the public and private sectors to enable mitigating actions for an impending space weather event, (3) the protection and mitigation plans, protocols, and standards required to reduce risks to critical infrastructure prior to and during a credible threat, and (4) the ability to respond to and recover from the effects of space weather,” the order says.
The Office of Science and Technology Policy, OMB and DHS are to be primarily responsible for developing and carrying out activities government-wide, while the order assigns certain responsibilities to a number of agencies. These include:
Commerce, which is to provide timely and accurate operational space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, alerts, and real-time space weather monitoring;
DHS, which is to ensure the timely redistribution of space weather alerts and warnings that support national preparedness, continuity of government, and continuity of operations;
Defense, which is to provide alerts and warnings regarding phenomena that may affect weapons systems, military operations, or national defense;
Interior, NASA and the National Science Foundation, which are to support research into understanding such events, their impact and potential courses of action;
Energy, which is to facilitate the protection and restoration of the electrical power grid; and
State, which is to carry out diplomatic and public diplomacy efforts to strengthen global capacity to respond to space weather events.
