Why Geospatial Skills Matter: GIS, Satellites, and OSINT for Future Careers

Maps Influence Our Lives Everyday

You may not realize it, but maps influence our lives every day. The most obvious is the daily journeys we almost all take: “Where am I going to get groceries? What is the fastest route from work to there”? The location of those grocery stores is very deliberate, too: the largest have done the mapping work to build those stores in the best possible location that balances both access to customers and logistics.

Maps dictate where you vote and electoral maps can dictate what your vote is worth: if Area A all votes for Party A, but you vote for Party B, little will change. Yet if you live in the next house – in Area B, and the vote there is always nearly 50:50 – your vote could change everything.

A clear example here of how maps influence policy is between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. If you live in South Hampton, NH, you pay no sales tax. If you live in Amesbury, MA – just a 5-minute drive away- you do. In policy, your location on the map matters.

Maps are everywhere and underpin so much, whether we realize it or not.

What is a Satellite and Why Do They Matter?

A satellite is simply an object which orbits another object. The Moon is a natural satellite of the Earth, and the Earth is a natural satellite of the Sun. As humans, we are launching more artificial satellites into space than ever before. From Sputnik 1 in 1957 and the famous International Space Station in 1998, we now have some 18,000 satellites in space (Orbital Radar, 2026). Satellites enable us to monitor the earth, outer space, and even other satellites. Today, you may be familiar with SpaceX’s Starlink Satellite Constellation which is around 11,000 strong and providing broadband services across the world.

Satellite Imagery is critical to our understanding of the world. When a hurricane emerges, we use satellite imagery to track it, understand where it might be going, and measure how intense it is. We use satellite imagery to measure deforestation and land-use change, and we use it widely in humanitarian crises to help understand the situation. Satellites are deeply embedded in human efforts to better understand the earth. We also use something called ‘remote sensing’, where satellites have specialist sensors that can draw out other earth features and processes – like automatically detecting wildfires.

Some big advances in satellite technology in recent times has been:

-              🚀 Satellite Launch Capacity Increasing

-              🗾 Satellite Imagery Resolution Improving (how detailed and ‘close’ a satellite image can be.

-              🛰️ Satellite Imagery Frequency (how often a satellite passes over the same area).

With an ever-increasing number of satellite companies launching satellites all the time all over the world, the industry is booming. Major companies like Microsoft / Blue Origin and SpaceX are building huge new facilities throughout the US, while NASA continues to launch satellites and target lofty goals of lunar landings. This is a phenomenal time to be involved in the space industry.

By extension in a future post, I will write about how OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) and GEOINT (Geospatial Intelligence) are increasingly critical to the military, defense industry, journalism, and much more.   

Skills

So, maps are everywhere and satellites are important. How does that map on to skills?

This is a really smart time to develop the practical skills and understanding needed to be part of the new ‘space race’ or ‘golden age’. Being able to code is one thing – being able to code and apply that to maps and satellite / space technology is something entirely more powerful. The industry is moving from questions of simple GIS (and geospatial analysis) to how geospatial data can rapidly revolutionize the decisions we make about the world and how we understand it, be it in the commercial sector or within government.

Learning how to make maps – with a basic introduction in our 'How to Save the World with Maps' Course – is just the bottom floor of the elevator. Playing with new tools and understanding them? That could be gold dust in the future.

Career Types, Industries and Employers

Finally, the geospatial world offers career opportunities with companies, organizations, and across government and defense at an unprecedented, thrilling scale. In recent months, I have routinely seen geospatial and satellite-related job postings from across a vast array of industries and know of others doing the work at these places:

Energy & Utilities: Eversource, Duke, ExxonMobil, Chevron

Space: SpaceX, Blue Origin, Planet Labs, Amazon

Defense (Industry): BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Anduril, Vantor

Defense (Government): Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, NGA, NRO, CIA

Non-Governmental Organizations: UN, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, International Criminal Court, Human Rights Watch

Journalism: New York Times, Forbes, Washington Post

Engineering: TRC, Jacobs Solutions, Tetra Tech

I’ve come across some fascinating jobs in recent months that surprised even me: Lego, Planet Fitness, and even Panera have all posted credible geospatial job listings.

Some of these larger companies or departments often offer competitive internship or educational program opportunities for college students and high-school students, providing both insights into industries and exciting career opportunities. These are the kinds of opportunities that I envision Fells and Mystic students seizing in the future.

Conclusion

This article has shown how relevant and important geospatial education and skills are in this moment, and the tremendous opportunity they offer across a vast array of industries and jobs. If we are in the geospatial golden era and the start of the next space race – and at a time when investment in space is booming – this is a great time to be involved, especially as a pre-college high-school student.