Space applications
Earth Observation provides satellite images or remote sensing of the earth surface from space. These data are used for environmental monitoring, cartography and meteorology.
Navigation provides position, navigation and timing information.
Communication applications provide communication channels between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. These applications are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications.
Space surveillance and situational awareness is used to monitor the space environment of earth to observe objects in earth orbits, such as satellites and natural objects (near earth objects, NEO) as well as space weather, caused by radiation and sun storms. The surveillance and tracking of satellites is used for collision avoidance of satellites, observation of satellites from other nations and tracking of satellite fragments (space debris).
Scientific applications such as telescopes, geodetic satellites and space stations.
The future
First steps of research and development are already undertaken by certain states to ceate further space applications.
Space mining is the exploitation of resources from natural space objects, such as asteroids, near earth objects, minor planets as well as moons and planets. This includes the mining of materials to be used in-situ – directly applied for a space mission, brought and sold on earth, or sold to an inter-planetary market, such as fuel for space missions or materials for in-orbit manufacturing.
Space based energy could generate energy in space from sources like solar or nuclear energy and beam the energy via low-power microwaves to a receiver station on earth or another object.
Tourism and personnel transportation includes the suborbital and orbital transportation of humans to space stations, natural objects such as moons and planets, or from point to point on earth.
Planetary defence is the defence of earth against hazards from space. This could be used to avoid collisions with near-earth objects, asteroids or the impact of sun storms.
Space warfare is the military usage of space as part of the battleground. Military and paramilitary warfare includes applications ranging from the electronic jamming of satellite signals, the manipulation of satellites in orbit, the kinetic destruction of satellites with anti-satellites weapons to orbital bombardment of targets on the surface of earth. This includes ground-to-space warfare, such as attacking satellites from the Earth; space-to-space warfare, such as satellites attacking satellites; and space-to-ground warfare, such as satellites attacking Earth-based targets.