Modern life is no longer possible without space technologies
What would happen if all the satellites orbiting Earth stopped working? In short, global chaos would ensue. Satellites have long been an integral part of our day-to-day lives. The services they provide are indispensable for mobility on land, at sea and in the air, for all power and communications networks, for the international systems used for financial transactions, for global weather forecasting and for the energy transition. If these satellites were to stop working, our modern world would be set back decades in a matter of seconds. Navigation satellites are the clocks that set the rhythm of modern life. If, for example, the satellites of the European Galileo system were to stop working, we would lose the highly accurate timestamps that they provide. Financial transactions would become impossible without these precise time signals; people would no longer be able to withdraw money from ATMs and stock trading would come to a standstill. The end result would be a global financial collapse. In addition, the supply of electricity would be interrupted, as all the power networks rely on those same high-precision time signals. Land and water transport would be severely impaired, and air transport would no longer be possible.
If communications satellites were to stop working, mobile networks would suffer severe outages and live TV broadcasting would no longer be possible. In future, high-speed broadband internet communications links will increasingly be carried by satellites. Communications satellites will also be used by the new 5G mobile communications standard. Failure of the European Copernicus Earth observation and Meteosat weather satellites would bring weather forecasting to a halt and stop the supply of climate and environmental data, with far-reaching consequences for all sectors that rely on reliable weather and environmental data. In addition, we would also lack the important information we need to get a quick and reliable picture of emergency situations for relief workers, for example in the event of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods or forest fires.
Link:
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Fabian Walker · Email Fabian.Walker@dlr.de
What would happen if all the satellites orbiting Earth stopped working? In short, global chaos would ensue. Satellites have long been an integral part of our day-to-day lives. The services they provide are indispensable for mobility on land, at sea and in the air, for all power and communications networks, for the international systems used for financial transactions, for global weather forecasting and for the energy transition. If these satellites were to stop working, our modern world would be set back decades in a matter of seconds. A new animation shows just how much space influences our everyday lives. Credit: German Space Agency at DLR
What would a day without space technologies look like? The animation ‘A day without space’ shows just how much space influences our everyday lives.