WHAT ARE NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES? - SCIENCE - 2025

The difference between a natural satellite and an artificial one is that the natural one is a celestial body in space that orbits around a larger body, like the Moon that moves around the Earth.

The artificial satellite is a human-created machine that is launched into space or Earth's orbit for data collection, communication, and other purposes.

The Moon is a natural satellite of the Earth.

We understand by satellite any object that revolves around another of larger size and generally, when someone mentions the word satellite they are referring to a machine.

The first artificial satellite launched into space was called Sputnik 1 and was created by the Soviet Union in 1957.

Some satellites in history

Sputnik 1 was about the size of a basketball, weighing about eight pounds. It was in orbit until January 8, 1958 when it was incinerated upon returning to the atmosphere. The signal it emitted made it possible to measure the ion concentration and provided other important data.

In 1958 the first satellite by NASA, called Explorer 1, was launched into space. The first image captured of the Earth was made in 1959 by Explorer 6, one of its successors.

In 1969, the United States undertook a space mission called Apollo 11, which was the first manned trip to reach the surface of the Moon.

Currently, according to the UCS Satellite Database, 1,459 operational satellites were registered in orbit around the Earth in 2016. There are 593 belonging to the United States, 192 to China, 135 to Russia and 539 belonging to other countries.

In 2016, NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office detected some 17,817 space junk objects in orbit. If objects less than 10 cm in Earth orbit are taken into account, they can reach 750 thousand garbage objects that represent a risk due to the possibility of impacting operational satellites.

The oldest satellite still in orbit is Vanguard 1, which was launched in 1958. Satellites vary in size depending on their function: the largest satellite currently in operation is the International Space Station and the smallest NASA satellite It weighs 64 grams and was created by a 3D printer, although it only lasts 12 minutes in zero gravity.

Some differences, characteristics, functions and types of each natural and artificial satellite are described below.

Natural satellites

They are created by nature, they are not humanly controlled, they are permanent, they cannot be manipulated or used for communication.

Natural satellites can be considered to be planets, comets and asteroids that revolve around stars, such as the eight planets of the Earth's Solar System, as well as many other minor planets, comets and asteroids that orbit the Sun. These remain in an orbit of gravitational attraction between the satellite and the other object.

Likewise, the Moon is the satellite of the Earth; Phobos and Deimos from Mars; Jupiter's main satellites are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, in addition to the other 69 that have been discovered; from Neptune are Proteus, Triton and Nereid; Earth, Venus, Jupiter are satellites of the Sun; Saturn has 62 satellites and Uranus 27.

Natural satellites provide relevant information on the evolution, operation and origin of their system that provide clues to understand the formation of solar systems.

Types of natural satellites

There are two types of satellites in the Solar System. According to their orbits, they are divided into regular and irregular.

Regular satellites

These are those that rotate around an object in the same direction with respect to the Sun. For example, the Moon rotates from east to west and the Earth also, that is, it is regular because it goes in synchrony.

Irregular satellites

Their orbits are elliptical, very inclined, and far from their planets. It is believed that they did not form in their orbits but were captured by gravitational attraction.

Natural satellites are classified into four types: pastoral satellites that hold the ring of some planet in position; Trojan satellites are those asteroids that occupy Lagrange points L 4 and L 5; coorbital satellites are those that rotate in the same orbit; and there are asteroid satellites that are some asteroids with satellites around them.

Artificial satellites

They are created by human hands, they are controlled by humans, they last a certain time, they can be used for communication and data collection.

Artificial satellites help observe large parts of the Earth, provide a clear view of space, allow images of other planets to be captured, facilitate understanding and study of the Universe, and more.

At the same time, they are an effective communication medium that has influenced the development of technology and communication signals such as television signals, telephone calls from anywhere on the planet, among others.

Most of these machines have two parts in common which are an antenna and a power source. The antennas are to send and receive information and their power source can be by battery or solar energy through panels that convert light into electricity.

They provide detailed information on clouds, air, and oceans. They help predict the weather, observe volcanoes and fires. They allow to observe dangerous rays coming from the Sun, to explore planets, stars, asteroids and comets.

Satellites have been used for years for military purposes such as infrared sensors for missile tracking, sensors for recording and listening to classified conversations, as well as optical elements for military surveillance.

Types of artificial satellites

The main division of its functions is organized into: research, applications, navigation, meteorology and communication satellites. Its purposes can be very varied. Some types that exist are:

Communication satellite

They are used in telecommunications, they provide fast transmission signals that impact the entire planet. They process the information from the source to the recipient.

Navigation satellite

One of the most commonly used is GPS. Transmits radio signals to show locations through an electronic receiver.

Meteorological satellite

They allow you to monitor climate changes and measure the meteorological conditions of other planets.

They continuously update atmospheric conditions and you can visualize storms, auroras, polluting effects, ocean currents, energy flows and more.

Astronomical satellites

They are used to take readings and observe distant galaxies.

Killer satellites

They have been designed to destroy satellites, enemy warheads and objects from outer space. The first satellite of this type began operating in 1973 and pose a threat to life on Earth.

References

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2. Maya Inamura. World Space Week: From Science Fiction to Reality (2014). Source: aaas.org.
3. Benjamin Elisha Sawe. Types Of Satellites (2017). Source: worldatlas.com.
4. Flint Wild. What is a Satellite? (2017). Source: nasa.gov.
5. Natural satellite. Source: newworldencyclopedia.org
6. Gaurav Rathee. What does Artificial Satellites Do (2015). Source: digitalperiod.com
7. UCS Satellite Database. (2017). Source: ucsusa.org.