A new generation of satellites will try to predict disruptive solar flares and disturbances before they wreak havoc with our cell phones.

Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin won a $178 million contract to design and develop the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), which will help forecast solar disturbances. The first of the new generation of geostationary satellites in the series is set to launch in December 2014.