Why do we need satellites?

Why do we need satellites?

Satellites are far from an indulgent luxury exclusively for the use of the rich nations. The everyday lives of almost everyone on the planet would take a change for the worse if satellites were suddenly to disappear. They have become the foundation of modern telecommunications. Without satellites there would be no global positioning system (GPS), on which ships and aircraft now depend. Satellites provide data for weather forecasts and monitor everything from forest fires to marine pollution. They also play a vital role in science. Without telescopes in space, astronomers would have a greatly restricted view of the cosmos.