Do you know? At present, there are more than 4800 satellites in the world, of which the United States has 2944 and Russia has 169, so how many satellites are there on the mainland?
On April 18, there were rumors that Google was going to release maps of parts of Russia, or high-definition photos. The news shocked many people, although no real photos have been released so far, and Google has said that it will not change the service for specific regions. But such "gossip" has once again made people realize the importance of satellites
Artificial Earth satellites, referred to as "artificial satellites". A small number of countries in the world will develop and produce satellites for different purposes for their own needs and development, such as space "messenger" communication satellites, space "broadcaster" broadcast satellites, space "weather station" meteorological satellites, etc. These satellites have a wide variety of types, and their appearance is also varied, with crowns, cylindrical shapes, and butterflies and other shapes, these satellites with all-round observation capabilities on the earth form a huge "satellite family" over the earth.
There are many opinions about the number of satellites, but in the USC satellite database, we can know the number of satellites operating in Earth orbit. According to updated data, on January 1, 2022, there were 4852 satellites in orbit worldwide, of which the United States had 2944 and Russia had 169. Although there are many voices of doubt about this data, the USC satellite database will be updated three times a year, not only the number of satellites updated, but also the types and parameters of satellites, etc. It can be said that the credibility of USC with a professional satellite data collection team is still very high.
So why are there so many in the U.S.? As a veritable "satellite giant", why does the United States launch so many satellites?
In fact, the first country to explore artificial satellites is also the first country to use GPS, but we also know that the types of satellites are different, and their uses are different. According to statistics, of the 2944 satellites in the United States, 30 are civilian, 168 are government, 230 are military, and 2516 are commercial. What is a commercial satellite? For example, Google in the United States is a commercial satellite, commercial satellites are actually relatively small, such as Musk's Starlink satellite, a satellite weighs only tens of kilograms, and its life is not long. Compared with meteorological satellites of more than a few hundred kilograms, the two are incomparable.
But there's a reason there are so many commercial satellites. According to the Northern Sky Institute, $1.334 billion will come from the global satellite remote sensing raw data market revenue. Although commercial satellites are small in size and the comprehensive performance is not as good as other satellites, they are low in cost and have the sensitivity to replace, so commercial satellites have great space for use. The United States attached importance to scientific and technological research and development after World War II, so the United States, which is not short of money, has been launching satellites for many years, and its number has been rising. But why does Russia have only 169 satellites so far? Between 1947 and 1991, the Soviet Union increased its investment in sputnik due to its emphasis on the development of science and technology. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia did not invest as much in science and technology as the United States did in Sputnik.
The United States has 2944 satellites, Russia has 169 satellites, so how many satellites does China have? The continent's first artificial satellite was launched in 1970 and was named "Dongfanghong I". The launch of Dongfanghong I also marks that the mainland is the fifth country in the world to independently develop artificial satellites. In the USC satellite database, the number of Chinese satellites is 499. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, and since that time, China has realized the importance of artificial satellites, so the research on satellites has also begun from that time. Although china does not have as many people as the United States, China's satellites are to defend the country and promote the development of the mainland's cutting-edge science and technology industries.
With the development of China, artificial satellites are also becoming more and more mature. According to data from April 18, 2022, the mainland's GDP is 270178 billion yuan, which shows that China's development is growing steadily, but it is still in the economic state of developing countries. Therefore, the large-scale manufacturing of satellites is not in line with our development. Sputnik is not the more the better, suitable for the development of the country is beneficial. In addition, space also needs to pay attention to environmental protection. If there is a collision between artificial satellites, then the space garbage generated will also increase, such as the Shenzhou THIRTEEN launched by the mainland, and in the operation of Shenzhou THIRTEEN, it has collided with artificial satellites many times. And the result of the increase in space junk is also the high frequency of replacement of commercial satellites, because of its short life, even if the development space is large, but blindly only for the sake of interests, continue to launch and replace commercial satellites, then in the end will spend an expensive amount to clean up the resulting space junk.
For now, we can't clean up space junk at low cost. Although we are enjoying the great convenience brought to our lives by artificial satellites, the country has promoted economic and social development and enhanced its national strength due to the launch of artificial satellites. But we cannot ignore the needs of space and Earth, and the need for artificial satellites and the need for economic development to have a state of balance. The pace of seeking scientific development should follow the path of sustainable development and sustainable satellites in order to make human beings better survive and develop.