India’s space agency has issued a warning about the potential for strong radio blackouts as the Sun continues to unleash powerful bursts of energy toward the Earth, signalling heightened space weather activity that could disrupt satellite communications, navigation systems and high-frequency radio services.
According to the alert, intense solar storms — driven by eruptions of energy and charged particles from the Sun’s surface — can lead to significant disturbances in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, including a spike in ionisation levels. When this happens, radio waves used for long-distance communication can be absorbed rather than reflected by the ionosphere, causing radio blackouts that affect aviation, maritime communications and other critical services. These space weather events have the potential to interfere with television signals, radar systems and even power grids if they are sufficiently strong.
ISRO is closely tracking the situation, monitoring the activity of more than 50 Indian satellites for any signs of disruption. The space agency’s scientists are also drawing on data from the Aditya-L1 solar observatory, which has been instrumental in decoding how solar storms interact with Earth’s magnetic shield. Earlier studies using Aditya-L1 observations showed that when a powerful solar eruption impacts Earth, it can compress the planet’s magnetic field and expose satellites in orbit to increased stress from charged particles and turbulent conditions — underscoring why real-time monitoring is critical to protecting space assets.
Confirming the development, Anil Kumar, Director of the Indian Space Research Organisation's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), told NDTV that; "...there is a strong possibility of radio blackouts. All ISRO satellites are being monitored very closely, and any communication loss will be attended to immediately."
Space weather experts explain that these disturbances arise from phenomena such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), massive bubbles of hot plasma and magnetic fields thrown out by the Sun. When these structures are directed toward Earth, they can trigger geomagnetic storms that accelerate particles and create currents in the upper atmosphere. These storms have been known to cause short-term outages in satellite sensors, temporary navigation errors, and interruptions in radio communication as the ionospheric environment rapidly changes.
While such events do not pose a direct threat to life on the ground, they can have tangible effects on the technology that modern society relies on. Even short periods of elevated solar activity can make high-frequency radio channels unreliable, disrupt satellite-based navigation and communication links, and necessitate precautionary adjustments by satellite operators. For instance, satellites in low Earth orbit may experience increased atmospheric drag during geomagnetic disturbances, accelerating their orbital decay and requiring manoeuvres to maintain altitude.
ISRO’s warning highlights not only the dynamic nature of space weather but also the broader global effort to understand and mitigate its impacts. With the Sun nearing a more active phase of its 11-year cycle, scientists worldwide remain vigilant, both for safeguarding existing space infrastructure and for preparing terrestrial systems that depend on uninterrupted communication and navigation services.
As the situation evolves, further advisories from space agencies and updates on solar activity will be crucial for industries and services that could be affected by heightened space weather conditions.