The Road to Space Runs through the Poles

High Latitudes, Highly Important.

Although it’s not widely recognized, the polar regions are vital to space access and operations. This is due to the particular value of polar and near-polar orbits for a wide variety of useful satellite missions. High-latitude launch sites make it easier to put satellites into orbits with high inclination, and high-latitude ground stations are the best locations for communicating with satellites in polar orbits. 

 

Satellites in polar orbits travel around the globe from pole to pole and can provide pictures of every inch of the planet as it rotates beneath them. These orbits are useful for everything from weather forecasting to intelligence gathering. Also useful are sun-synchronous (near-polar) orbits, in which a satellite syncs up with the Earth’s rotation around the Sun. These satellites will pass over the same places at the same time every day — when shadows will be similar — giving them obvious utility for a variety of observations. 

 

The geographic and physical realities of the poles amplify emerging challenges in the current space race: the increasingly blurred lines between private commercial and official military ways, means, and objectives. Satellite data used for navigation can be used for targeting, while weather data can support civilian activities and military planning — it is inherently dual-use. 

 

For satellites in polar and near-polar orbits, polar ground stations are critical for consistent telemetry, tracking, and command. Polar ground stations have high access density, meaning they can communicate with many satellites every day, since polar orbit tracks converge around the poles. The ability of polar ground stations to support frequent contact and rapid data return makes them key to bringing down significant quantities of data and monitoring adversary satellite activity. New technologies like intersatellite optical communications may eventually reduce the burden on polar facilities, but until these technologies are widely adopted, polar ground stations will be critical.

 

The Road to Space Runs through the Poles.