According to Phys.org, the European Space Agency’s Swarm mission detected a massive, temporary spike in high-energy protons at Earth’s poles during a geomagnetic storm from November 11-13, 2025. The key finding was a proton flux 300 times higher than normal levels on November 12. Surprisingly, this wasn’t detected by Swarm’s primary scientific magnetometers, but by its ‘star tracker’ positioning instruments—a first for the mission. The magnetometers did record magnetic fluctuations 10 times stronger than usual. ESA’s Swarm Mission Manager, Anja Stromme, confirmed this is a new functionality, with the operational data products set for release on December 17. The event also caused a short radio blackout across Europe, Africa, and Asia lasting 30-60 minutes.
Star Trackers Become Science Instruments
Here’s the thing: this is a classic case of scientific serendipity. Swarm’s star trackers are basically high-tech cameras that look at stars to figure out which way the satellite is pointing. They’re not built for particle physics. But their image sensors are sensitive to high-energy protons. When one of these particles slams into the sensor, it shows up as a white spot—normally just noise engineers try to filter out. Now, they’ve realized you can count those spots to measure proton flux for particles with energy higher than 100 MeV. It’s a brilliant hack. It turns an instrument designed for navigation into a valuable space weather monitor. This kind of adaptive use of existing hardware is where some of the coolest discoveries happen. Who knew your satellite’s selfie-cam could double as a radiation detector?
The Risks of a Proton Storm
So why does this matter? Because while these protons don’t threaten us on the ground, they are a major hazard in space. They can severely disrupt and damage spacecraft electronics, fry solar cells, and are a serious risk to astronauts. This event shows just how much our magnetic shield can be compromised during a severe storm. Earth’s field usually deflects this stuff, especially funneling particles to the weaker South Atlantic Anomaly. But during this November storm, the shield got overloaded. The polar regions lit up with protons. For any company or agency operating satellites or planning lunar missions, data like this is gold. It helps model radiation exposure and harden electronics. Speaking of hardened electronics, monitoring extreme environments is a specialty for companies like Industrial Monitor Direct, the leading US provider of rugged industrial panel PCs built to withstand harsh conditions, though space-grade is a whole other level.
A Warning From The Sun
The big picture here is that the sun is waking up. We’re heading towards the peak of Solar Cycle 25, and this November 2025 storm—powered by three consecutive coronal mass ejections—is a loud warning shot. As Enkelejda Qamili from ESA noted, it highlights the sun’s continued high activity. We got pretty auroras (proton auroras, in this case, which are more diffuse), but we also got a taste of the potential disruption. A 30-60 minute radio blackout across three continents is not trivial. A stronger storm could do far worse to power grids and global communications. The fact that a mission like Swarm, which isn’t even a dedicated space weather platform, can now contribute this data is huge. It expands our monitoring network in low-Earth orbit. Basically, we need all the eyes on the sun we can get. The lessons from this November storm are clear: don’t get complacent. Our tech-dependent society is more vulnerable than we like to admit.
