From internet to GPS: how many satellites does one person need?

Satellites are inseparable from modern society. But what do we know about the invisible links connecting satellites, orbiting hundreds to thousands of kilometres above our heads, to our everyday activities in Aotearoa New Zealand?

My research investigates how data moves between average New Zealanders and satellites, and who is involved in the movement of information.

By understanding our dependence on satellites, New Zealanders can better understand the issues raised by that dependence.

To do this, a satellite data chain was developed using quantitative databases and qualitative frameworks to establish the present state of satellite data in New Zealand and assess the impact of it on everyday New Zealanders.

There are tens of thousands of satellites in Earth’s orbit, and many of them are needed for daily life.

If you’re rural and use the internet, or if you have ever used GPS to navigate or taken a flight from Queenstown to Auckland, or found yourself stranded in the middle of Ōtaki Forks with no cell reception, then satellites are important to you.

Fast, steady internet access for rural Kiwis often relies on satellites, since network towers are few and far between. GPS is a system of satellites commonly used for navigation, travel and location tracking.

Air traffic control uses satellites to track aeroplanes and manage flight paths all over the country. And if you’re lost in the bush with no reception, a satellite phone could save your life.

These are specific examples, but there are many more.

The research identified 22 unique satellite-enabled services available to New Zealanders, and these can be grouped into five broad categories: commerce and industry, Earth observation, navigation and global positioning, research, and development, and finally, telecommunication.

Together, the systems support a broad set of activities on the ground, from disaster response and public safety to military operations, trade and transport, and financial transactions that rely on precise timing.

The research found 8162 individual satellites working for us, as of July 2024.

Many function in groups called ‘satellite systems’. If you’ve heard of Starlink, that’s a satellite system. The same goes for GPS (Global Positioning System).

Around 45 percent of satellite systems that we use were incomplete at the time of the research. If all the systems were completed, there would be more than 18,000 satellites operating.

It’s fair to assume that with more satellites launched each year, the total number has ballooned to perhaps 10,000 satellites in service throughout the country.

So, how many satellites does it take to power one New Zealander? That depends on who you are and how you live your life.

It would be a Sisyphean task to detail every single New Zealander’s daily life and use of satellite technology. Instead, the research mapped the most readily accessible and general satellite-enabled services for an average New Zealander.

For that average New Zealander, the research showed that a person relies on services that require 15 unique satellite systems – a system can consist anywhere from a single satellite to thousands.

It takes approximately 7420 satellites to provide the range of services each of us uses in daily life.

The satellites are invisible enablers of our conversations, thinking and information sharing. The research is an important step to creating awareness of our growing interdependency with satellites.

New Zealand does not solely own nor operate a single one of those satellites. The data Kiwis send via satellite-enabled services immediately leaves our hands to be dropped into the control of overseas entities.

New Zealand needs to consider issues of security and sovereignty of our data bouncing between satellites. The research quantifies the issue. How the issues are addressed and what we can do to mitigate the risk is something that affects all of us.