Lowering to the Occasion: Meeting Society's Needs in the Age of Proliferated LEO

As providers launch dozens of low altitude satellites per month and announce plans for constellations reaching into the thousands, the space weather community must ask ourselves: are we pursuing the right research to meet the needs of proliferated use of LEO? There are three significant disconnects between research modeling efforts and the needs of low altitude space systems: inclusion of the drift loss cone in global electron belt simulations, real-time modeling of geomagnetic cutoffs, and description of field-aligned currents at spacecraft altitudes. So-called "global" simulation models of the electron radiation belts typically do not represent the drift loss cone, where low altitude satellites spend the majority of their lives. Geomagnetic cutoffs, if they are monitored at all, are not represented in a realistic manner that can be used to reconstruct proton and ion fluxes at LEO satellites. Field-aligned currents, which are a meaningful indicator of the location of highest surface charging risk for LEO satellites, are modeled in detail for power grid operators but are not evaluated at LEO altitudes. Addressing these disconnects will likely not require large research investments, but it will require a recognition that society's use of space is rapidly changing. Its needs from the space weather community are changing as well.