What would happen if all of the satellites orbiting our earth were to fail? In short, there is global chaos. “Satellites have long become an integral part of our everyday lives. They provide indispensable information for mobility on land, water and in the air, for all power and communication networks, for internationally networked payment transactions, global weather forecasts and the energy transition. If these satellites fail, our modern world would be thrown back decades from one second to the next, ”explains Dr. Walther Pelzer, board member of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and head ofGerman space agency at DLRbased in Bonn. The German Space Agency at DLR is implementing the German space strategy on behalf of the Federal Government. This concerns above all the German involvement in the European space agency ESA and the control and implementation of the so-called national space program. “We have around 1.2 billion euros available for this every year,” says DLR Board Member Walther Pelzer. A new animation, entitled “A day without space travel”, shows in a few minutes how strongly our modern life is already linked to technologies and services from space travel. “Space travel is the driving force behind the development of future technologies. Preserving and protecting our space infrastructure is already vital.
The animation “A day without space travel” clearly shows the major role space travel plays in our everyday lives.
Credit: German Space Agency at DLR
Satellites set the pace for our modern life
Navigation satellites set the pace for the pulse of our modern life. If, for example, the satellites of the European Galileo system were to fail, we would lose their highly accurate timestamps. Financial transactions are no longer possible without these precise time signals. There would be no more money from the ATMs. Stock trading would come to a standstill. A global financial collapse would be the result. In addition, electricity would no longer come out of the socket, because all energy networks also depend on the high-precision time signals. Furthermore, land and water traffic would be severely impaired, and air traffic would no longer be possible.
If communications satellites were to fail, our cellular networks would be severely impaired and live broadcasts on television would no longer be possible. And the fast broadband internet will also be transmitted more and more by satellites in the future. Communication satellites are also needed for the new 5G mobile communications standard. The elimination of the EuropeanCopernicus-Earth observation and METEOSAT-Weather satellites would result in a failure of the weather forecast and the delivery of climate and environmental data – with far-reaching consequences for all areas that depend on reliable weather and environmental data.
Without earth observation satellites, we would have no precise and complete weather forecast and no global and continuous data series on the condition and change or destruction of our earth and our climate – keyword greenhouse gases such as ozone. We would also lack important information in order to quickly create a reliable picture of the situation for the helpers in an emergency – for example in the event of environmental disasters such as earthquakes, floods or forest fires.
Space travel in a global environment
Space travel is closely networked internationally. Space projects are human projects – across national borders. “As the German Space Agency at DLR, we work closely with partners in Germany, Europe and around the world. This happens within the framework of the national space program and with the German contributions for theEuropean Space Agency ESA as well as for the European organization for the use of meteorological satellites (EUMETSAT). We are also the point of contact for space issues in the European Union – especially for the futureEU agency EUSPA (European Union Agency for the Space Program) and in the upcoming EU research framework program Horizon Europe. We are committed to ensuring that important space contracts – nationally and internationally – are awarded to German companies in order to strengthen know-how and innovations in Germany. We also have small and medium-sized companies and start-ups in mind, ”emphasizes Walther Pelzer, who is also the head of the German delegation at ESA.