Satellites: Earth Observation, Telecom & Disaster Response | SPACETIME Full Documentary

From the first photos of Earth in 1946 to centimeter-level quake maps in 2015—satellites changed everything.
In this SPACETIME special, astronaut Prof. Ulrich Walter explains how satellites see, measure, and connect our planet: disaster mapping, weather and climate, navigation and timing, and the networks that power telecom and the internet—along with the real debates over privacy, big data, and space debris.

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What You’ll See

Orbits & constellations: LEO, MEO, GEO—coverage, latency & revisit time

Sensors 101: optical, SAR (radar), multispectral/hyperspectral & thermal

Case study—Nepal 2015: how InSAR mapped ground shift to centimeters

Weather & climate: storms, fires, sea ice, and long-term monitoring

Navigation & timing: GNSS and why precision time keeps the world running

Telecom from space: GEO relays, LEO broadband, ground stations & links

From downlink to decisions: data pipelines, AI analytics, open data vs commercial

Risks & ethics: surveillance, data security, space debris and mitigation

Chapters
0:00 Why Satellites Matter
2:50 Orbits: LEO, MEO, GEO & Revisit
6:20 Sensors: Optical, SAR & Spectral Bands
10:05 Nepal 2015: Disaster Mapping with InSAR
13:40 Weather, Climate & Environmental Watch
17:20 GNSS: Navigation, Timing & Economics
21:00 Telecom: GEO Relays & LEO Constellations
24:30 Ground Segment: Downlink, Processing, AI
28:00 Privacy, Policy & Space Debris
31:00 What’s Next: Smarter Sensors & Cleaner Orbits

Details & Keywords
SPACETIME Science Show, Ulrich Walter, satellite documentary, Earth observation, SAR, InSAR, multispectral, hyperspectral, thermal imaging, weather satellite, climate monitoring, GNSS, GPS, telecom satellite, LEO constellation, GEO satellite, ground station, data downlink, space debris, privacy, big data, disaster response, Nepal 2015 earthquake

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