The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has collaborated with NASA and an undisclosed company to identify a software fix for spacecraft designed to help scientists predict a solar storm eruption, SpaceNews reported Monday.
A team of engineers completed an intermediate test of the software update intended to restore the Deep Space Climate Observatory, which went offline in June after experiencing a series of glitches. NOAA said the engineers aim to implement the new program in the first quarter of 2020.
The satellite works to monitor weather conditions in space via the satellite’s perch at the L-1 Lagrange point of the Earth-sun system. NOAA uses the Advanced Composition Explorer and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory to collect space climate data while the agency is waiting for DSCOVR to resume operations.