What is the reason why mankind has invested tens of billions of dollars in space technology?

Some people are puzzled why we should spend so much time and money to develop spacecraft and technology, send us into space and help us explore distant planets. On earth, we are already facing urgent challenges and need solutions. Every year, we spend billions of dollars to develop space technology. The budget of NASA alone will exceed $20 billion in 2020. Why does space technology play such a huge role on the earth?

Many people may not realize that the development of space exploration technology has benefited the earth in many ways, especially in communication, earth observation and even promoting economic growth. Space technology is of amazing importance in influencing the daily decision-making of government, industry and individuals. However, with the emergence of climate change, humanitarian crisis, mass migration and other global problems, how can we effectively rely on space technology to maintain our own earth and life on it?

Tackling climate change

Climate change is changing the global environment, causing severe super storms and weather patterns, and posing an increasingly serious threat to the sustainability of life on earth. However, space satellites can do more than just predict the daily weather forecast. The space system can save thousands of lives from extreme weather every year. Before the advent of satellite technology, major disasters such as Hurricane Galveston in Texas in 1900 caused 6000 to 12000 deaths, because there was no early warning system to get people out of danger. NASA satellite data revealed for the first time a big hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. Just over a decade ago, we didn't use weather applications or online map applications to reach our destination efficiently.

Monitoring greenhouse gases and other climate indicators by earth observation satellites also enables us to analyze the health status of the earth's ecosystem more effectively. For example, technologies suitable for space applications, such as global positioning system and semiconductor solar cells, have greatly reduced greenhouse gas emissions. GPS navigation can reduce the fuel consumption at sea, land and air by up to 15% to 2 1%, which is more than the fuel provided by more efficient engines or fuel substitutes. For the first time, NASA used solar photovoltaic power generation in projects such as the International Space Station, which led to a significant improvement in solar energy performance. In the future, regardless of the weather conditions on the earth, orbital space power stations can continuously deliver clean energy downward day and night through target radiation. And free from the influence of atmospheric events, solar energy will be more effective than the current solar energy technology. In addition, sending solar energy into space will liberate land and cultural resources from the huge solar panel array, and will also save the landfill from the abandoned solar panel waste.

The impact of climate change has also damaged agricultural production, fishery management, fresh water resources and forestry. However, Earth observation satellites enable us to track, monitor and identify activities harmful to the environment, such as illegal logging, poaching of animals, fires and mining. The closer we monitor these events, the sooner and faster we can take action to help stop them. Without these systems, we will not be able to assess and respond to climate change in a scientific way.

Facing the humanitarian crisis

The use of space observation can not only help protect society from the impact of climate change, but also improve the social situation of business, public health and national security departments. For example, world hunger is one of the most important humanitarian crises in the world. But satellite images can identify crop yield by enlarging the view of each pixel, and let farmers know when to water, fertilize and harvest crops. Using special spectral bands, such as near-infrared imaging of land, we can create a vegetation index representing crop yield and productivity. Satellites can capture and collect data of agricultural areas that account for 37% of the earth's land area.

In addition, the big data application of space technology is also very helpful to developing countries, which are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters due to limited resources. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOAU) even has a Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER), which uses big data and satellite technology to deal with natural disasters in African countries. With the increasing amount of data from Earth observation technology, social media, crowdsourcing geographic location, virtual tools and Internet access, big data can help us generate agile insight, so that we can make better decisions in an emergency while adhering to the sustainable development goals.

The future of space technology

In the next 5 to 20 years, we will see great changes in more advanced space technology. It is expected that satellite giant constellations, fast point-to-point suborbital transportation (which will save fuel emissions) and asteroid impact prevention (although this technology is still in its infancy) will all show their talents.

These satellite constellations can improve the efficiency, capacity and safety of various earth services and commercial users in maritime, energy, banking, government and telecommunications sectors. By using big data, Big Constellation will create more potential and higher speed Internet, increase throughput and global coverage, and will benefit billions of daily Internet users. At present, Space Exploration Technology Company, Amazon, Telesat and Samsung are all committed to building a huge satellite network.

Space technology is an integral part of our social development. When we further explore the universe, the required level of innovation and exploration will help us understand how to purposefully integrate and adjust these tools for the benefit of our surface life. Although we still have a long way to go in developing these technologies, we can use them to improve our society and ultimately protect our planet.