Our World From Space

Our satellite journey all started with one small satellite called Sputnik 1 which translates from Russian to “fellow traveller”.

On the 4^th of October 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1. Humanity’s first artificial satellite. As it travelled around the globe it emitted a series of beeps over radio for all to hear and was effectively the starting pistol for the space race between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Sputnik changed the world forever and this mission opened the door to a whole new suite of technological innovation over the following decades. As it turns out we can do a lot for humans living on Earth by sending satellites into space.

And in just a few short years we would see some exciting new satellites launched.

That wasn’t the only exciting idea we had with this emerging technology. In 1962 NASA launched the Telstar 1, a spherical satellite which for the first time ever relayed TV pictures, telegraph images and even telephone calls.

Not only that, but it provided the first LIVE transatlantic television feed between the United States and Europe. What did this original transmission look like? Relive the moment for yourself with this link.

But how does this technology work? Well Telstar took microwave signals beamed from the Earth's surface and redirected it to another place on the curved surface of our planet. This amazing satellite established the precedent for the future TV satellites that were to come.

A couple of years later we would see the third nation to send up a satellite. Which was none other than us here in the UK! In 1962 the UK worked with the US to launch Ariel 1 - making it the first international satellite project as well.

It had some interesting experiments set up to study the Earth’s ionosphere (upper atmosphere) as well as solar flares coming from the Sun. The experiments provided X-ray energy data from over 20 solar flares.

Its operations were hindered a bit from American nuclear weapon testing happening at the time, and the radiation these tests created. Classic space prank from the US there, help us launch a satellite into space then blast it with nuclear fallout. Turns out however that the radiation disabled Ariel 1's timer. This timer was going to deactivate the satellite after a certain amount of time - this extended Ariel's working life.

The grand poohbah of artificial satellites.

Arguably the most impressive thing humanity has sent into space is the International Space Station (ISS). A space station created to allow humans to live off planet Earth and conduct ground breaking space research. The ISS is actually the most expensive thing humans have ever made, tallying up to cost about $150 billion.

It took five space agencies representing 15 countries about ten years and 30 missions to fully assemble. The first part of it launched 1998 and from the year 2000, astronauts started to live up there. In fact, since then, there has never been a period where the ISS hasn’t been inhabited by astronauts in the subsequent decades.

It took 5 space agencies representing 15 countries 10 years and 30 missions to fully assemble. The first part of it launched 1998 and from 2000 astronauts started to live up there. In fact, since then, there has never been a period where the ISS hasn’t been inhabited by astronauts in the subsequent decades.

In its time it’s allowed some amazing research into a varied number of topics. Astronauts have studied how to grow plants and 3D print in microgravity, as well as the effects of microgravity on the human body over time. The astronauts on the ISS also help us back on Earth - they can track natural disasters from orbit. They actively collect data from things like storms, floods and fires. And a lot more topics than I’ve had a chance to list today.

Starting us off we have: GLIMR (which stands for Geostationary Littoral Imaging And Monitoring Radiometer). This is a NASA mission that’s aiming to launch between 2026 and 2027. What’s it going to do? From space, it will keep an eye on the Gulf of Mexico, the Amazon River plume, and the south-eastern U.S. coastline.

Looking at these areas it will use instruments to monitor ocean biology, chemistry, and ecology. With the climate crisis continuing, satellites can help us track what’s happening with our delicate environment – in this case it will track coastal ecosystems and things like algal blooms. Even though algae are tiny when they bloom it can have a huge effect on these regions, you can literally see the blooms from space!

Next, we have an ESA UK-led mission called TRUTHs (seems like all these satellites have these strange acronyms). This one stands for the Traceable Radiometry Underpinning Terrestrial and Helio Studies (fair enough that is a mouthful of a name).

Hoping to launch around 2030 this mission will track incoming solar radiation from our Sun and how much of this radiation is reflected from Earth. I guess you could say THE TRUTHs IS OUT THERE.

And last but not least we have the Atlantic Constellation. The UK have joined up with Portugal and Spain to create what is a called a constellation of satellites. This is a system of multiple artificial satellites working together.

In this case the collaborative satellites study Earth and gather crucial data. This data will help us with a multitude of issues from detection of climate change indicators, to increasing agricultural productivity, all the way to the support of disaster relief action.