Satellites: Our invisible infrastructure

Benjamin Charlton explains how satellites underpin our daily lives and influence international security
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Image created with the assistance of Dall-E 2

‘Space’, in the context of geopolitics, does not mean stars and planets. It does not mean astronauts nor the Moon, except for their symbolism and speculative future potential. Policy statements often group ‘space’ and ‘cyberspace’ together in the same sentence for good reason: in strategic terms, space is primarily a realm of information, and the pieces of equipment that transmit it—satellites. 

What is a satellite?

A satellite is any piece of equipment placed into orbit around Earth. They are a diverse bunch: the smallest not much larger than a laptop, the largest the size of a bus. They range in cost from a few hundred thousand dollars for a low-spec ‘cubesat’ to upwards of half a billion for a GPS satellite.

The stereotypical image of a satellite is generally accurate: a shiny metal box with solar panel ‘wings’ and a communication dish—shiny to regulate its temperature, boxy because it needn’t be aerodynamic, solar panelled because nobody can reach it to replace its batteries, and equipped with a communication dish because a satellite’s main and often only function is to transmit data. (In the latter respect, satellites resemble telegraph poles more closely than aircraft.)

Satellites are disposable. Servicing and repairing them is usually physically impossible and always prohibitively expensive. So they are built to last—built to continue working, often for a decade or more, in a radioactive environment and amid temperatures hotter and colder than anywhere on earth.

What do satellites do?

Most traffic between earth and space takes the form not of rockets but of electromagnetic waves carrying data. The function of satellites is to transmit this data, and occasionally to create it.

Most satellites do one of three things: telecommunications, Earth observation, and global positioning.

As a rule of thumb, Earth observation satellites are in low orbits, where they are closer to the things they want to look at. Telecommunications satellites are in high orbits so that they can ‘see’ (and communicate with) larger areas of Earth at any given time, and global positioning satellites are in medium orbits where few other satellites go.

Telecommunications satellites are the most ubiquitous and account for the lion’s share of the space economy. Their functions include television broadcasting (the most lucrative segment of the entire space sector) and two-way voice and data transmission, with broadband internet the fastest-growing segment. Military uses of satellite communication include piloting drones and communicating securely with forces in the field, making satellites the nerve system of a modern military. In a conflict between advanced military powers, neutralising the adversary’s communication satellites would be a high priority for both sides.

Earth observation (or ‘remote sensing’) includes spy satellites and weather satellites, the latter increasingly relevant to national security as extreme weather events grow more frequent. 

Satellites can ‘see’ parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that the human eye cannot. They can penetrate cloud cover using radar, and they can detect changes in temperature over large areas and changes in foliage (including crops) that are invisible to the human eye.

Commercial satellite operators sell imagery of ever-rising quality, giving buyers access to capabilities that not long ago were the exclusive and highly classified preserve of a handful of governments. This now allows routine open-source imagery analysis of, for instance, North Korea’s nuclear programme and China’s island-building in the South China Sea. Citizen activist groups like Bellingcat have used commercial satellite imagery to expose corruption and human rights abuses.

For decades, governments have used remote sensing satellites to verify compliance with arms control treaties, but the most strategically sensitive of all are the early warning satellites that alert governments to the launch of ballistic missiles by detecting the heat given off when they ignite. Because these satellites are the first line of defence against nuclear attack, interfering with another country’s would be reckless.

The US military developed global positioning satellites for locating friends and targeting foes. They underpin satellite navigation and also carry highly accurate atomic clocks whose signals are used for the high-precision time-stamping of transactions in global financial markets. They are the satellites most integral to the functioning of the global economy and would cause widespread and immediate disruption if they suddenly went offline.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is the most accurate and widely used. It provides an unencrypted signal free of charge to anyone worldwide, but the US Space Force controls the satellites themselves, so Russia, China, and Europe have built duplicate systems to maintain strategic independence. 

Invisible infrastructure

Satellites are a bigger part of our lives than most of us realise. We rarely notice them in the sky, but we take their invisible presence for granted whenever we check the weather forecast, read news about a drone strike or ask Google Maps for directions. Most of us would be lost without them. Literally.

Terms & Conditions

Terms and Conditions for the AI-Cybersecurity Essay Prize Competition

Introduction

The AI-Cybersecurity Essay Prize Competition (the “Competition”) is organized by the European Cyber Conflict Research Incubator (“ECCRI CIC”) in partnership with the Munich Security Conference (“MSC”). It is sponsored by Google (the “Sponsor”). By entering the Competition, participants agree to these Terms and Conditions (T&Cs).

Eligibility

The Competition is open to individuals worldwide who are experts in the fields of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (“AI”). Participants must ensure that their participation complies with local laws and regulations.

Submission Guidelines

Essays must address the question: “How will Artificial Intelligence change cybersecurity, and what are the implications for Europe? Discuss potential strategies that policymakers can adopt to navigate these changes.”

Submissions must be original, unpublished works between 800-1200 words, excluding footnotes but including hyperlinks for references.

Essays must be submitted by 15 December 2024, 00:00 am CET., through the official submission portal provided by ECCRI CIC.

Only single-authored essays are accepted. Co-authored submissions will not be considered.

Participants are responsible for ensuring their submissions do not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties.

Judging and Awards

Essays will be judged based on insightfulness, relevance, originality, clarity, and evidence by a review board comprising distinguished figures from academia, industry, and government.

The decision of the review board is final and binding in all matters related to the Competition.

Prizes are as follows: 1st Place: €10,000; Runner-Up: €5,000; 3rd Place: €2,500; 4th-5th Places: €1,000 each. The winner will also be invited to attend The Munich Security Conference

Intellectual Property Rights

The author retains ownership of the submitted essay.

By submitting the essay, the author grants ECCRI CIC exclusive, royalty-free rights to use, reproduce, publish, distribute, and display the essay for purposes related to the Competition, including but not limited to educational, promotional, and research-related activities.

The author represents, warrants, and agrees that no essay submitted as part of the essay prize competition violates or infringes upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights, breaches, or conflicts with any obligation, such as a confidentiality obligation, or contains libellous, defamatory, or otherwise unlawful material.

The author agrees that the organizers can use your name (or your pseudonym) and an image of you in association with your essay for purposes of publicity, promotion and any other activity related to the exercise of its rights under these Terms.

The organizers may remove any essay-related content from its platforms at any time and without explanation.

The organizers may block contributions from particular email or IP addresses without notice or explanation.

The organizers may enable advertising on its platforms and associated social media accounts, including in connection with the display of your essay. The organizers may also use your Material to promote its products and services.

The organizers may, at its sole discretion, categorise Material, whether by means of ranking according to popularity or by any other criteria.

Data Protection

Personal information collected in connection with the Competition will be processed in accordance with Virtual Routes’ Privacy Policy. Participants agree to the collection, processing, and storage of their personal data for the purposes of the Competition.

Liability and Indemnity

ECCRI CIC, MSC, and the Sponsor will not be liable for any damages arising from participation in the Competition, except where prohibited by law.

Participants agree to indemnify ECCRI CIC, MSC, and the Sponsor against any claims, damages, or losses resulting from a breach of these T&Cs.

General Conditions

ECCRI CIC reserves the right to cancel, suspend, or modify the Competition or these T&Cs if fraud, technical failures, or any other factor beyond ECCRI CIC’s reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Competition, as determined by ECCRI CIC in its sole discretion.

Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Competition may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, ECCRI CIC reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Governing Law

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of the United Kingdom, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms and Conditions, including any question regarding its existence, validity, or termination, shall be referred to and finally resolved by the courts of the United Kingdom. The participants agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in the United Kingdom for the resolution of all disputes arising from or related to these Terms and Conditions or the Competition.