A Deep Dive into the Impact of Solar Storms on LEO Satellite Networks

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite networks are an important part of the global communication infrastructure today. Despite ongoing efforts to improve their resilience, they remain vulnerable to component damage and deorbiting under harsh space weather conditions. Prior work identified a modest but noticeable impact on LEO satellite network performance during solar storms, typically manifesting as an immediate rise in packet loss and a sustained increase in round-trip time (RTT). However, these studies offer only coarse-grained insights and do not capture the nuanced spatial and temporal patterns of disruption across the LEO network.