satellites

15Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT

To Help Combat The Urban Heat Island Effect Satellites Zoom In On Cities’ Hottest Neighborhoods

Spend time in a city in summer and you can feel the urban heat rising from the pavement and radiating from buildings. Cities are generally hotter than surrounding rural areas, but even within cities, some residential neighborhoods get dangerously warmer than others just a few miles away. Within these “micro-urban heat islands,” communities can experience heat wave conditions well before officials declare a heat emergency. I use Earth-observing satellites and population data to map these hot spots, often on projects with NASA. Satellites like the Landsat program have become crucial for pinpointing urban risks so cities can prepare for and respond to extreme heat, a top weather-related killer. Among the many things we’ve been able to track with increasingly detailed satellite data is that...

Hackers could shut down satellites – or turn them into weapons

Last month, SpaceX became the operator of the world’s largest active satellite constellation. As of the end of January, the company had 242 satellites orbiting the planet with plans to launch 42,000 over the next decade. This is part of its ambitious project to provide internet access across the globe. The race to put satellites in space is on, with Amazon, U.K.-based OneWeb and other companies chomping at the bit to place thousands of satellites in orbit in the coming months. These new satellites have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of everyday life – from bringing internet access to remote corners of the globe to monitoring the environment and improving global navigation systems. Amid all the fanfare, a critical danger has flown under the radar: the lack of cybersecurity s...

Amazon wants to send more than 3,000 satellites into space

In an effort to offer broadband, the company has requested the US government allow its Kuiper satellites into space. Amazon.com Inc. asked for U.S. permission to launch 3,236 communications satellites, joining a new space race to offer internet service from low orbits and challenge the fleet planned by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Amazon in a July 4 filing told the Federal Communications Commission its Kuiper satellites will deliver broadband to tens of millions of consumers and businesses that now lack adequate access to the internet. The agency coordinates trajectories and radio-frequency use. The FCC already has approved nearly 13,000 low-Earth orbit satellites. Those include 11,943 for Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp., which launched an initial batch ...