The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
Space systems connect to life on the ground through two pathways: the evidence they provide and the services they deliver. Both create dependencies. Decisions about water, food, disasters and climate increasingly rest on satellite data, and networks for energy, communications, transport and finance rely on satellite timing and connectivity. This page sets out how disruption in either pathway can cascade. It describes connections; it is not a forecast.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 2
Earth observation, for this page
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
For dependencies and consequences, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on true-colour imagery and land cover with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on the Arctic; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.
Layers and dates
GeographyFor dependencies and consequences, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on true-colour imagery and land cover with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on the Arctic; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.
Dependencies and consequences in Space and Earth Observation describe how space and Earth observation as well as climate and hazards connect to other systems through physical, economic, social and ecological links, and how stress travels along them toward fields such as those of Diplomacy Nexus and Climate and Nature Governance. Every dependency map states its assumptions, data and uncertainty; it describes connections, not a forecast.
Fig.How GCRI, GRF and GRA share one field while the authorities decide. Design, not a record.
The working screen behind this subject: its structure, terms and states. Names are placeholders and values illustrative.
Navigation signals provide time references for telecommunications, electricity networks and financial systems. Loss or spoofing can degrade services far from any satellite.
Crop monitoring, insurance, commodity markets and resource management use satellite products. Gaps or errors in data can propagate into prices, plans and risk models.
Disaster response, environmental enforcement and humanitarian planning depend on timely observation. Loss of data can delay help and hide environmental change.
Space weather, driven by solar activity, can disturb satellite electronics, degrade navigation accuracy and increase drag on low-orbit satellites. Radio interference and jamming can deny navigation and communication signals locally, and spoofing can feed false positions or times to receivers. Ground segments, the stations, networks and software that control satellites and distribute data, are exposed to cyber attack, power loss and natural hazards like any other infrastructure.
In orbit, the growing number of satellites and debris raises collision risk, and a single collision can create fragments that threaten others. Dependence on a small number of data sources or providers can create concentration risk: if a key mission ends without a successor, long-term records that many fields rely on can be interrupted.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Interdependency | A two-way dependency between infrastructures, such as power needing telecoms for control while telecoms need power to run. |
| Cascading risk | Risk that a failure in one system or component triggers failures in others that depend on it. |
| Compound event | Two or more hazards or drivers occurring together or in sequence whose joint impact exceeds what either would cause alone, such as drought followed by intense rain; IPCC assessments use the term. |
| Dependency mapping | Tracing the people, processes, technology, facilities and suppliers a service relies on. |
Dependency analysis draws on space systems engineering, communications and network technology and spatial statistics, with evidence from incidents and testing. Every map states its assumptions and uncertainty; see methods and uncertainty.
A dependency map describes how disruption could travel. It does not assess any individual operator's systems or security.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.