If current plans for satellites are approved…
It’s going to be like an interstate highway in rush hour in a snowstorm with everyone driving much too fast….Except that there are multiple interstate highways crossing each other with no stoplights.
– Jonathan McDowell, astrophysicist and astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. https://www.space.com/how-many-satellites-fit-safely-earth-orbit
In an effort to connect every “thing”, event, and place on the planet and beyond to the internet, and to transition the world to a new model of warfare, as of May 2023, there were 7560 operational satellites orbiting Earth, with the US leading the charge at 5184. According to the journal Science, as of October 2023, over 1,000,000 applications for satellites were filed. (Current list by country as of 9/18/2024)
Satellites are transported to space by rockets and set into orbit at varying distances from the Earth’s surface. Most often they use radiofrequency/microwave radiation to send and receive transmissions from base stations on Earth where the data is received, processed, and sent on according to its mission.
For personal satellite users, a small terminal known as a dish is stationed on their roof or near their home. There are also terminals that can be mounted on cars. The dish/terminal sends and receives transmissions directly to a satellite which then sends the communications back to an Earth base station to be processed. For the dish to communicate with one’s personal computer or other wireless device, the data is transmitted through the airwaves into one’s home, saturating all who live there – and likely neighbors as well – with a hefty dose of wireless radiation.
Satellites are being developed that will interface directly with cellphones. For the moment these are primarily intended for emergency alert or short text messages, but companies are scaling up to make satellite-connected phones operate much like current generation smart phones that transmit to and from cell towers.
Satellites range in size and weight, some being as large as a school bus and others as small as a Rubik’s cube. Small satellites, aka SmallSats, vary in size from a kitchen refrigerator or as small (thus far) as a Femtosatellite, weighing .001-.01 kilograms. Miniature satellites known as CubeSats are a subset of SmallSats and measure approximately 2-3 square inches. The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest “satellite” to date. Due to lower cost, less mass, and ease of launch, smaller satellites have enabled more players to get into the act of propagating their wares in space. Satellites travel anywhere between 7000 – 17,500 mph depending how close to Earth they are orbiting – the closer to Earth, the greater the speed. The ISS travels at 17,500 mph. If the number of satellites planned indeed comes to fruition, space would be rendered unusable due to congestion and space debris.
Satellites are used for communications, imaging, weather-forecasting, smart cities, robotics, TV, banking, critical infrastructure such as electric or water grids, GPS, moon and space-mining, agriculture, and more. Armed forces around the world depend on satellites for all their operations as well. Although satellites provide many benefits, it is imperative to consider the dangers they pose in order to more responsibly integrate them into the internet and telecommunications network, where moderation and balance are sadly in short supply.
Problems with satellites include space debris, depletion of the ozone layer; risk of devastating cyber attacks, pollution from rocket launches and from “dead” satellites burning up in the atmosphere, and collisions; plutonium and uranium spills from nuclear-powered satellites and space vehicles; increase in already harmful levels of electromagnetic radiation, compromise of the night sky, interference with both astronomical research and weather forecasting; effects on wildlife including navigation, yet more tracking, surveillance and erosion of privacy; vastly more energy consumption and the “promise” to increase the lethality of war.
In addition to providing a redundant and complementary communications network for both the commercial and military sectors, satellites contribute mega data streams that feed artificial intelligence, and that have enabled the advancement of three new domains of warfare: Cyber Warfare, Electromagnetic Warfare, and Cognitive warfare.
Satellites are foundational in network interoperability between all branches of the military. In the US, this is referred to the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2). NATO countries refer to it as Multi-Domain Operations.
Satellites tie together all the vast streams of data – both military and civil – emanating from cell towers, cellphones, sensors, robots, weapons, smart cities, surveillance cameras, the internet of things (IoT), the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT), underwater vehicles and weapons, electric, gas and water utilities – and the list grows exponentially year by year.
Operators and governments market satellites as “bridging the digital divide”, however, wired technologies are safer, faster, more reliable, cyber secure, and energy efficient. Bridging the digital divide would be far more effectively achieved with wired connections leaving satellites to fill in on essential services if and where wired is absolutely unfeasible. Unfortunately, often wireless technologies win out as they are less costly and provide far more granular data making them more advantageous for surveillance and warfare – aka “homeland security”.
Satellites can be placed at varying distances from Earth:
Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) – c. 35,000 km above Earth (22,000 mi) (Geo-synchronous Orbit)
Middle Earth Orbit (MEO) – 2000 – 35,000 km above Earth (c. 1200 – 22,000 mi)
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) – 160 to 2,000 km (99 to 1200 mi) above Earth
Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) – Below 400 km (250 mi) above Earth
Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) – Orbits on an elliptical path with altitude varying from 1000 – 42,000 km (600 – 27,000 mi) above Earth.