How the space industry shapes your everyday life
When most people think about the space industry, they might imagine distant missions to explore the solar system, or perhaps astronauts floating around a space station 400 kilometres above them. What very few realise is that the space industry is one of the most important forces in shaping the world as we know it. In this article I will explore some of the most important contributions the space industry has made to our lives.
One of the most well-known technologies provided by the space industry is GPS — the Global Positioning System, which provides navigation for sat navs and services like Google Maps. However, the applications of GPS include far more than just giving you directions to the supermarket. GPS is needed to guide aircraft and ships across the ocean, and it saves countless lives by directing emergency services in desperate situations. The uses of GPS do not stop at navigation. It is used in many fields of everyday life, such as measuring seismic activity to detect earthquakes and volcanic eruptions so that people can be evacuated.
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Additionally, what almost no one appreciates is that GPS satellites carry incredibly precise atomic clocks. Because these clocks are accurate to billionths of a second, they are essentially the backbone of timing across the globe. Mobile phones, the power grid, financial transactions and internet networks all rely on the precise timing provided by GPS. Without the Global Positioning System, and therefore without the space industry, almost every industry and technology on the planet would fall out of sync.
Not only has the space industry provided GPS, but it has also launched hundreds of Earth-observation satellites into orbit. These satellites are used to track meteorological data to provide weather forecasting, identify natural disasters like floods and storms, and monitor climate change. They have saved thousands of lives by identifying potential natural disasters and providing earlier warnings so that people can be evacuated and defences can be prepared in advance.
Satellites are also crucial for connectivity. Through satellite communication we are able to send signals across vast distances, enabling technologies like television broadcasting and internet connectivity in remote places, or aboard aircraft and ships. More recently, satellite constellations like Starlink, OneWeb and the recently renamed Amazon Leo are starting to provide broadband internet across the world in places that traditional cables cannot reach.
Space exploration has also led to a number of innovations that are now used here on Earth. Memory foam, infrared ear thermometers and portable insulin pumps are just some examples of inventions from the space industry that have impacted everyday life. The space industry also improved and popularised designs for MRI and CT scans, laser eye surgery, water purification systems, smoke detectors, Velcro, phone cameras, firefighter suits, insulation, tyres, heart pacemakers and food preservation.
I have covered many contributions of the space industry to everyday life, yet I have only scratched the surface. I did not mention, for example, how the space industry has pioneered material developments that have led to lightweight composites now used in cars and bicycles. It would take an entire book to list all of these contributions, because they are so numerous and impactful that everyday life would not exist as we know it without the space industry.
