Wildlife monitoring to resume from space after three-year hiatus

The satellite tracking of animals from space will soon resume following a relaunch of the ICARUS (International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space) project after a three-year pause.

On Friday, a SpaceX rocket carried a satellite with a mini-receiver into orbit, according to the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in the southern German city of Konstanz. More are to follow in the coming years.

From an altitude of 500 kilometres, the receiver reads signals from tiny transmitters attached to migratory birds, bats or sea turtles, said the director of the institute and the project's initiator Martin Wikelski.

The data shows where the animals are and where they are moving and can aid behavioural research, conservation and efforts to fight the spread of infectious diseases.

For the first time, the system is expected to function worldwide in near real-time, Wikelski said.

ICARUS was launched on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2020.

Until 2022, an antenna on the Russian module collected data and transmitted it to researchers. However, after the start of the war in Ukraine, cooperation between the German and Russian space agencies was suspended and the data streams dried up.

The new mini-receivers will be transported into space in cooperation with a research mission from the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich.

The units are more powerful than those on board the ISS. After a three-month test phase, animal observation is set to resume.

By mid-2027, six of the satellites should create a network for comprehensive and reliable data collection. This will also enable reception from previously uncovered regions such as the Arctic and Antarctic.