RBSP

The Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) are a pair of identical spacecraft launched by NASA in August 2012 to study Earth's Van Allen radiation belts. Each satellite orbits through the inner and outer belts, measuring the flux and energy of electrons and ions in real time. For aviation maintenance crews, RBSP data matters because solar events that energize these belts can disrupt avionics, communications, and navigation systems on aircraft, particularly at high altitudes and polar routes.

The twin design was deliberate. A single satellite sees only one point in space at any moment; two spacecraft separated along the same orbit capture spatial structure and temporal dynamics simultaneously. Each RBSP carries magnetometers, electric field instruments, and energetic particle detectors. The satellites operate in highly elliptical orbits, spending most of their time in the outer belt where hazardous electron populations build up during geomagnetic storms.

Why this matters to aviation

RBSP feeds into space weather forecasting. When radiation belt electrons intensify, they can penetrate aircraft shielding and cause single-event upsets in solid-state avionics. Commercial airlines flying polar routes at cruise altitude (35,000 to 43,000 feet) experience higher radiation exposure than mid-latitude flights. RBSP measurements provide the ground truth that validates predictive models used to warn flight crews and schedule maintenance windows for radiation-sensitive systems.

The mission is part of NASA's Living With a Star (LWS) program, which focuses on space weather impacts to human infrastructure. RBSP data streams are publicly available; many aerospace contractors and airlines subscribe to derived forecasts rather than the raw telemetry. The spacecraft themselves carry redundant power systems and radiation-hardened electronics to survive the harsh environment they study.

Note that NASA renamed the mission in 2013 to the Van Allen Probes, honoring physicist James Van Allen who discovered the belts in 1958. You may encounter both names in technical literature and older maintenance bulletins, but they refer to the same pair of spacecraft.