The SPACESTORM project brings together 5 European research groups in 4 different countries. It also involves international collaborations with several groups in the USA and Japan, and will draw upon other established scientific collaborations across Europe via the normal practise of free exchange of scientific data between different research groups. In addition, we have identified potential stakeholders in other countries such as The Netherlands and Germany, and during the course of the project we expect to interact with new stakeholders as the project starts to deliver results.
The SPACESTORM project has been designed to bring together experts in different fields for a common goal, namely to model space weather events and mitigate their effects on satellites. It brings together experts with an international reputation on radiation belt modelling and wave-particle interactions (NERC-BAS), magnetic field and seed electron dynamics (FMI), data analysis and service provision (DHC), satellite engineering and instrument development (SSC) and laboratory experiments as well as modelling and data (ONE). It includes one SME, one University and three Research Institutes. This range of skills and diverse backgrounds illustrates that the consortium is well balanced.
The goal and objectives of this project are sufficiently challenging and important that no one member of the consortium could achieve it on their own. For example, to determine the impact of space weather on satellites requires data (DHC) and models to define the space radiation environment (NERC-BAS, FMI), knowledge of satellite engineering design (SSC) and experiments to determine their impact on components (ONE). The members of this consortium have complementary expertise and need each other to achieve the common goal.