Artificial satellite
An artificial satellite was a man-made form of technology that was put in orbit around a planet. () They had countless applications, including defense, weather forecast, surveillance, and communication, and were used by many cultures.

History

Earth
Earth launched its first artificial satellite, Sputnik, in 1957. This milestone was monitored by a Vulcan team. ()

By 1968, weather satellites were used. ()

By the late 20th century, the cryonics fad had resulted in space modules being put into Earth's orbit. ()

According to Tom Paris, by 1996 Earth had surveillance satellites in orbit. Satellite dishes were in use for communication with satellites. ()

In 2024, news services used satellite images to assess what was happening in Sanctuary District A during the Bell Riots. The images showed a number of potential casualties. ()

By 2154, Starfleet Operations operated a grid of satellites in Earth orbit, capable of picking up any transporter activity on the planet. ()

Vulcan
In 2097, the Vulcan High Command put a surveillance satellite in orbit of Weytahn to monitor potential violations of the Treaty of 2097. ()

By 2154,  had a network of security satellites in orbit, providing satellite surveillance. ()

United Federation of Planets
By the second half of the 24th century, Earth relied on a network of satellites for communications. () Navigational control satellites were also in use, one of which was in orbit of Saturn. ()

By 2370, the Prytt Alliance became concerned that the Federation was helping the  to develop attack satellites, and claimed to have developed countermeasures. ()

By 2372, the Federation had deployed a relay satellite on the Gamma Quadrant side of the Bajoran wormhole. ()

Other species
Lazarus claimed to have survived the destruction of his civilization by being occupied with inspecting magnetic communications satellites when the destruction occurred. ()

A Xindi-Arboreal colony visited by  in 2153 had no artificial satellites. ()

Satellites were used to generate the dispersion field protecting parts of the Torothan homeworld from orbital scans. ()

By 2151, Valakis had many satellites in orbit. ()

In 2153, the Azati Prime system featured a extremely sensitive security net, provided by a large array incorporating thousand of satellites. ()

By 2267, the Eminian Union was using tricobalt satellites in the Eminiar-Vendikar War. ()

Sometime before the destruction of the Vaadwaur homeworld in 1484, the Vaadwaur put a sentry satellite in geostationary orbit above one of their cities. ()

A Kohl settlement devastated by solar flares in 2353 was still orbited in 2372 by several by then-nonfunctional communications satellites. ()

In 2366, the Romulans claimed to be doing archaeological research on Nelvana III, using a cloaked satellite. ()

A moon located in the Gamma Quadrant was orbited by a network of artificial satellites which attacked starships nearby and protected the imprisoned Ennis and Nol-Ennis. ()

By 2373, Taresia was defended by a high-density polaron grid generated by a network of satellites. ()

By 2376, the orbit of the Qomar homeworld was so filled with spaceships and satellites that entering it felt like navigating an obstacle course. ()

List of artificial satellites 
Named
 SATCOM 47
 Sputnik I
 Vaadwaur sentry satellite

By type
Communication and navigation
 Navigational control satellite
 Federation communications satellite 
 Relay satellite 
 Magnetic communication satellite
 Defense
 Attack satellite
 Tricobalt satellite
 Surveillance and research
 Monitor beacon satellite 
 Security satellite (recon satellite)
 Surveillance satellite (sentry satellite)
 Spy satellite
 Weather satellite
 Utility
 space module
 Ultraviolet satellite

Appendices

See also
 Midos V Satellite City Spaceport
 Satellite control
 Satellite dish
 Satellite grid
 Satellite log
 Satellite surveillance

Background information
Satellites seem so common in the Star Trek universe that their absence was an indicator that the planet did not harbor a warp-capable civilization (for example, in , , or ), or alternatively that a planet was only a minor outpost (for example in ).

External link

de:Satellit
nl:Satelliet
Sensor technology
Communications technology
Spacecraft classifications