How will Australia’s emergency services cope if satellites go down? With a sextant and a street directory
Australian military and emergency services are undergoing training in analog navigation and communication techniques, such as using sextants and paper maps. This initiative is a response to expert warnings about the extreme vulnerability of modern satellite-dependent infrastructure to solar flares or hostile cyberattacks.
Why it matters
It underscores the fragility of modern society's reliance on space-based infrastructure and the growing need for contingency planning in national security.
The defence force is already offering sextant training, so members can navigate by the stars, along with terrestrial navigation training. The defence force is already offering sextant training, so members can navigate by the stars, along with terrestrial navigation training. Australia news How will Australia’s emergency services cope if satellites go down? With a sextant and a street directory Military and SES personnel being taught analog communication and navigation techniques as experts warn solar flare could knock out ‘critical space infrastructure’
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Prefer the Guardian on Google Australia’s emergency services and military personnel are being trained to read paper maps, navigate without GPS support, and sail by the stars in case something knocks out the nation’s space capabilities.
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