NASA's PUNCH Mission Sharpens Solar Storm Forecasts

NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission, operating four low‑Earth‑orbit spacecraft, provides continuous 3‑D imaging of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). In a proof‑of‑concept test using a CME that left the Sun on 31 May 2025, scientists applied a simple geometric model to PUNCH images and predicted the storm’s arrival at Earth within a 30‑minute window, ten times more accurate than existing methods that offer a five‑hour range.

The improved timing could help mitigate impacts on power grids, satellites and astronaut safety. The results were presented at the Committee on Space Research meeting and are under review for publication in the journal *Space Weather*.