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 satellite s were used . ( ) By the late 20th century , the cryonics fad had resulted in cryonics satellite s being put into Earth ' s orbit . ( ) According to Tom Paris , by 1996 Earth had surveillance satellite s in orbit . Satellite dish es 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 satellite s 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 satellite s , 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 satellite s 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 scan s . ( ) 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 satellite s 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 flare s 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 cloak ed satellite . ( ) A moon located in the Gamma Quadrant was orbited by a network of artificial satellites which attacked starship s 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 . ( ) Appendices . 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 ) .