SANSA says solar activity can affect HF communication, GNSS accuracy, avionics and radiation exposure, making operational awareness increasingly important for African airlines.
Space weather is not usually part of the daily language of airline operations in Africa. Yet, the systems most exposed to it are now embedded in modern flight planning, navigation, communication and aircraft operations. At the AFRAA 14th Aviation Stakeholders Convention, Mpho Tshisaphungo, Space Weather Manager at the South African National Space Agency (SANSA), used her presentation, “Space Weather and Aviation: Understanding the Risk, Managing the Impact”, to place solar activity within the aviation safety and resilience discussion.
The subject sits at the intersection of aviation, satellite technology, navigation, communication and operational risk management. Airlines are already familiar with terrestrial weather and its influence on flight planning, routing, delays, and safety. Space weather introduces a different layer of exposure, driven by activity on the Sun and the energetic particles that interact with Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere.
For aviation, solar flares, storms and charged particles can affect high-frequency radio communication, satellite-based navigation, sensitive avionics and radiation exposure for crews and frequent flyers. These risks are global, but Tshisaphungo emphasised their relevance for African aviation as airlines and aviation service providers become more dependent on satellite-enabled systems and operate across regions where ground-based infrastructure may be limited.
High-frequency communication remains particularly important for operations over oceans, remote areas and regions where ground instrumentation is sparse. In those environments, a disruption to HF radio can become more than a technical inconvenience. It can affect flight following, operational coordination and the ability to maintain reliable communication.
GNSS accuracy is another area of concern. Aircraft operations increasingly rely on satellite navigation, while airports, air navigation service providers and operators continue to integrate satellite-based systems into daily operations. Space weather can interfere with signal quality, creating navigation errors or degraded accuracy. For an airline, that risk needs to be understood before it appears as an unexplained system issue or an operational anomaly.
Tshisaphungo also drew attention to the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly, an area between South America and Africa where the Earth’s magnetic field is weaker. In such regions, energetic particles from the sun can penetrate deeper into the atmosphere, increasing the potential for effects on systems. For Africa and adjacent airspace, this gives space weather a specific geographic relevance rather than leaving it as a distant polar-route issue.
The Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) adds another layer for consideration. This space physics phenomenon can affect satellite signals over equatorial regions and degrade navigation performance. For African aviation, where many routes cross or operate near equatorial latitudes, the issue becomes part of the wider discussion on GNSS resilience, surveillance capability and the safe integration of satellite-dependent operations.
Solar storms can also affect polar routes and daylight-side radio communication through radio absorption events. While much of Africa’s routine traffic does not operate on polar sectors, the wider aviation network remains globally connected. Disruption to communication, navigation or airspace management in one region can alter routing, traffic flows and airline operating costs elsewhere.
Tshisaphungo linked space weather exposure to flight safety, schedules, aircraft availability and maintenance, crew rotations and airline costs. For African carriers already operating under tight margins, even limited disruption can have a measurable effect when delays, re-routing, technical inspections or irregular operations begin to accumulate.
Tshisaphungo referenced international work that has examined the economic cost of space weather impacts on aviation in markets such as the United Kingdom and China. While those studies are not African, they show the type of assessment that could be undertaken for the continent. Africa’s growing reliance on satellite navigation, expanding regional networks and uneven ground infrastructure make this a risk area that deserves more structured analysis.
Operationally, one of the challenges is that space weather may not be immediately recognised as the cause of a technical or navigation problem. Tshisaphungo referred to aviation-related examples where system anomalies or navigation errors were later linked to solar activity. In the absence of awareness, operators may interpret these events as isolated electronic faults, software issues or unexplained technical irregularities.
That uncertainty is where preparedness becomes important. Space weather information has value only if operators, dispatchers, pilots, maintenance teams and air navigation service providers understand how to interpret it and act on it. Forecasts need to be connected to operational procedures, route planning, communication alternatives, GNSS monitoring and post-event technical investigation.
SANSA’s role is central to that process. Based in Hermanus in the Western Cape, the agency runs 24/7 space weather operations and has been an ICAO-designated regional space weather service provider since 2018. It is integrated into the global space weather service framework, supporting international centres with regional information from the African environment.
The global system includes centres operated through international consortia and national providers, while SANSA contributes regional information from Africa. Tshisaphungo indicated that SANSA’s regional coverage is being expanded through additional instrumentation across the continent. Better monitoring capacity would improve the ability to observe, understand and warn of space weather conditions affecting African airspace and aviation systems.
The agency is also working with national aviation partners, including Air Traffic and Navigation Services, the South African Weather Service and the Department of Transport, to engage aviation stakeholders. Training is a key part of that work. SANSA and ATNS have been developing a space weather training curriculum to help aviation personnel understand the risk and incorporate relevant information into operations.
The training requirement is significant because space weather sits outside the normal experience of many airline and airport teams. Operators may have mature processes for thunderstorms, wind shear, volcanic ash, tropical weather and runway contamination, but fewer established routines for solar storms, GNSS degradation, HF communication disturbance or radiation exposure. Building awareness is the first step towards building an operational response.
ICAO’s space weather requirements give the subject additional weight. With space weather information now part of the international aviation framework, operators cannot treat it as a specialist scientific issue detached from flight operations. The practical task is to move from warning products to decision-making: when to reroute, when to monitor GNSS more closely, when to prepare alternative communication options and when to assess whether a technical anomaly may have a solar-weather link.
For African aviation, the sector needs enough awareness and procedural readiness to recognise the risk when conditions deteriorate. As aircraft, airports and air navigation systems become more dependent on satellite-enabled technology, resilience depends on understanding both the terrestrial and space environments in which aircraft operate.
Tshisaphungo’s presentation placed SANSA’s capability within a broader aviation resilience agenda. The agency can provide information, monitoring, training and regional expertise, but the operational value depends on uptake by airlines, regulators, air navigation service providers, airports and training institutions.
