India’s Sun-watching spacecraft is about to face the moment it was built for. In 2026, the solar cycle will crest, the Sun will flip its magnetic poles, and the familiar yellow disc will turn into a furnace of violent expulsions. For Aditya-L1, positioned patiently at its halo orbit, this will be the first opportunity to observe the corona during the most volatile phase in the star’s 11-year rhythm. The timing is not just scientifically convenient. It is strategically urgent. We are entering an age in which civilisation’s most fragile dependencies orbit above us.

Nearly 11,000 satellites ~ navigation, climate, communication, military and commercial ~ trace the thin shell around Earth. A powerful coronal mass ejection does not need to be a doomsday event to inflict outsized harm. A single high-velocity wave of charged particles can fry satellite electronics, disrupt GPS, degrade communications, distort weather data, and trigger blackouts in........

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