ICARUS

The ICARUS project, devised by the Max Planck Institute to monitor animals around the world from space, is not new. However, after a break that began with the ukrainian warlast year it began to be reactivated and this month it took its biggest step forward: placing its own satellite into orbit. Thanks to this, it will be possible to do a much more exhaustive monitoring of the animal world, reaching conclusions that may even be useful for studying the progress of climate change or zoonotic diseases. RAVEN goes into action. RAVEN is the first satellite of the Icarus program. Until 2022, it had only one receiver located in the Russian module of the International Space Station (ISS). that year relations of the Max Planck Institute were broken with Russia, so Icarus operations on the International Space Station were paused. However, those responsible for the project did not give up. They partnered with the New Space company TALOS to miniaturize the system and turn it into a payload that could travel to space on a CubeSat satellite. This was already achieved in November 2025, when the receiver was placed on a German satellite sent into space for other purposes. However, this May they have gone further by placing their own satellite into orbit. This not only allows the fauna to be studied more widely and, above all, with greater independence. It also consumes a tenth of the energy consumed by the ISS device. A long history of wildlife observation. Wildlife observation has gone through many phases. Initially, only the animals could be monitored directly. Scientists hid to observe them on site, in their habitat, trying to disturb them as little as possible. Then camera traps were devised. These are still used today, but logically they have certain limitations, since there are many blind spots that are not captured by them. Later transmitters were developed that can be placed directly on the bodies of animals. However, to capture the signals they emitted it was necessary to use antennas that could not be very far from the place where they were located. Faced with all these problems, it occurred to a group of scientists from the Max Planck Institute that the key could be to observe animals from space, since this allows much more data to be collected throughout the planet, simultaneously and continuously. An upgradeable transmitter. The International Cooperation for Research on Animals Using Space (ICARUS) is a wildlife observation program that is mainly based on two devices: the transmitters that are placed on the bodies of the animals and the receiver that is directed into space. The transmitters used today They are labels measuring 4 grams in mass and more or less the size of a euro cent coin in the smallest cases. They run on solar energy, resist sudden changes in temperature and are comfortable, so that animals can carry out their lives normally. In addition, they must go unnoticed so as not to become easy prey for their predators. Still, for smaller animals, such as insects, this size is still a limitation. Icarus scientists are working to create one that weighs less than a gram and is much smaller. The transmitters can still be improved A receiver that has improved a lot. The first ICARUS receiver was installed on the ISS in 2018, during a spacewalk by cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Prokopyev. It had little to do with the RAVEN satellite that is already operating in low Earth orbit. Without a doubt, the receiver has evolved a lot in a short time. Many applications. Monitoring animals from space is useful for many reasons. Broadly speaking, it seems that it only serves to know where they are at all times and, therefore, control their migrations. But that may have other implicit applications. For example, if migrations occur earlier or later than usual, or to places that are not typical for that species, it may be due to changes in temperatures associated with climate change. It’s a way to continue the advance of this phenomenon. You can also see how the animals that are reservoirs of zoonotic diseases are distributed and, thus, establish risk areas. ICARUS is even starting to be used to track poachers. If the animals flee in fright and it is not related to the presence of predators, the predator may be human. In some countriesthis is still the order of the day and it is important to look for ways to locate them in order to stop them before they act. ICARUS scientists hope train an algorithm that helps them detect possible poachers taking into account these escapes along with other factors. In summary… There are many applications, and all this thanks to a silent guardian that is already watching in space without the need for space stations to support it. Image | Magnific/Ororatech (X) | Max Planck Institute In Xataka | These are the invasive animals that are eating endangered animals