How Many Types Of Satellites Are There

Natural and artificial satellites are two distinct categories.

The Earth and Moon are two examples of natural satellites. The Moon revolves around the Earth, while the Earth revolves around the Sun. An artificial satellite is a device sent into orbit by spacecraft. There are various types of satellites in the sky, and a satellite revolves or moves around a planet or star. The Moon is a naturally occurring object in the sky.

The ISRO's Mangalyaan satellite was launched into space to carry out the Mars Orbiter Mission. NASA’s ICESat satellite was built to answer questions about the earth's climate system, global climate change, and variations in sea levels, among other things. Many man-made satellites are launched into space for specific purposes.

Types Of Satellites

The types of satellites are as follows:

1. Natural satellites

2. Artificial or man-made satellites

Natural Satellites

• The term "natural satellite" refers to a satellite that exists naturally in the sky and orbits a celestial body.

• Natural satellites orbit a body larger than themselves and are not created or launched by humans. These things are frequently called moons.

• Due to its revolving motion around the earth, the moon is an astronomical body known as a natural satellite.

Artificial Or Man-Made Satellites

• Artificial refers to something related to how humans function, and when the term satellite is included, it becomes a man-made satellite. The earth's satellite is one of the best-known instances.

• Approximately 1,100 man-made satellites are orbiting the planet. A spaceship-like object called an artificial satellite orbits the planet. It is constructed with a computer and two solar panels that draw electricity from the Sun.

• They do have cameras or other instruments that help in the gathering of data by scientists.

What Are Satellites Used For?

One of the unbelievable facts is that roughly 2000 satellites are orbiting the planet at once, each performing a specific function.

For instance, scientists can learn about the temperature of the oceans, monitor what's happening in the earth's glaciers, and learn about the various varieties of ice in the universe by collecting data or images of the earth's surface.

Meteorologists use satellites to analyse the weather and learn more about powerful storms like hurricanes and cyclones.

So, satellites aren't just used by scientists; we as individuals also utilise them, along with our cell phones and Maps, to determine the weather forecast for our location for the coming week.

How Do Satellites Communicate

Satellites send signals to Extensive scale antennas via radio waves. These signals are subsequently picked up by the antennas, then analyse the data they contain. Information may consist of:

• Scientific data

• The satellite's condition

• Where the spacecraft is located in orbit

Why Are Satellites Important

How much of our daily activities depend on satellite communications may surprise you. They penetrate practically every industry, improving the quality of life for everyone while also revolutionising how our country's infrastructure functions.

Navigation

• Some of the most important satellite functions are timing signals. They are indeed a key component of navigational satellites and have immediate and wide-ranging effects.

• Navigation is the foundation of many current societal services, from common individual uses like looking up cafe recommendations "near me" to complicated systems like coordinating transport logistics.

Communication

• The frequency and number of communication services are both increasing. They are becoming more and more crucial in many areas and industries. More businesses are incorporating IoT devices, and communication services are expanding outside of urbanised cities and more rural regions.

Examples

• The Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station are examples of man-made satellites.

• The first artificial satellite was launched into space when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik-I on October 4, 1957. The USA then sent Explorer 1. Since then, satellites have been launched from over 50 different countries, over 8,900. Approximately 5,000 satellites are still in space, according to an estimate. About 1,900 of these 5000 were still operating, while the remaining 4000 had reached the end of their useful lifetimes and were now space junk. These satellites are pointless and will continue to orbit until they are destroyed.

• However, Aryabhatta, India's first artificial satellite, was launched on April 19, 1975. Subsequently, numerous artificial satellites, including INSAT, IRS, Edusat, GSat, and Chandrayaan, were launched in the years that followed. GOES, a meteorological satellite, ANIK, a communication satellite; GPS, TERRIERS, a scientific spacecraft, and MILSTAR, a military satellite are some further examples of artificial satellites based on their intended applications.