Satellites for Sustainable Development

There are thousands of satellites in orbit around our planet right now. And when it comes to protecting the environment and tracking changes in our climate, they've become indispensable too. If only there wasn't the little issue of all that space debris ... In RESET's latest special feature, we've been taking a look at the potentials - and pitfalls - of satellites and drones for a sustainable future on this planet.

Satellites are powerful weapons in the fight against deforestation, overfishing and plastic waste. But there are downsides too, to the recent huge increase in the number of satellites orbiting the Earth. In RESET's upcoming event at the re:publica conference 2021, we'll be taking a closer look at projects using satellites for the good of the planet, and discussing a whole range of different solutions for sustainable space travel.

NASA scientists will be teaming up with epidemiologists in the agency’s first health-focused mission. With satellite data, they’ll find out how air pollution affects health in cities around the world.

A decade ago, it would have been impossible to create an accurate picture of the world's fisheries. But advances in satellite technology, cloud computing and machine learning have made it possible.

Are photos made by satellites problematic in terms of data protection? Is there enough regulation around the use of drones? How can we ensure that remote sensing data isn't misused? We talked about all of this with data protection expert Marit Hansen.

Space missions have to be many things – including safe, successful and cost-efficient. But what about eco-friendly, too? As we enter a new era of space exploration, the European Space Agency is taking steps to ensure that sustainability is integrated into all phases of its future missions - and hopes that other space actors will follow suit.

When it comes to speeding up the renewable energy transition, satellites can play a crucial role. We've taken a look at a few case studies that show us how.

Satellites offer us crucial information that can help us protect our planet, but while the number of satellites in orbit grows, so does the amount of space junk - dead satellites, pieces of machinery and debris left by humans in space. We talked to Holger Krag from ESA about why space junk is a problem and about what is being done to clean up the mess.

An international team of researchers, using high-resolution satellite data and artificial intelligence, has been able to locate billions of trees growing in the Sahara Desert. The results were published in the journal Nature in October 2020 - and the discovery made headlines around the world. RESET spoke to research group lead Professor Martin Brandt from the University of Copenhagen to find out more.