Big solar storms, like the one in May 2024 that lit up the skies with stunning auroras across Europe, have the potential to disrupt power grids, communications and satellites. Space weather, driven by solar activity, needs to be predicted early and accurately to give us the crucial time needed to protect satellites, astronauts and vital infrastructure on Earth.That’s where ESA’s Vigil mission comes in. Acting as a dedicated ‘space weather reporter’, Vigil will drastically improve our forecasting abilities with its specialised set of instruments, delivering breaking space weather news from its unique deep-space vantage point at Lagrange point 5 (L5).