It would only take a few solar flares to take out all of Earth's satellites.
The resulting communications blackout would be catastrophic for our modern world.
It would be back to the radio waves and TV screens for news updates, and we would be relying on signals from Telstra Tower.
Telecommunications expert Tom Worthington said the tower was still an important emergency back-up.
"It would be useful in a situation where the satellites were disabled, provided we had electricity to run the tower, and the generators were still going," he said.
"But even something less extreme than that, like a bushfire, it would be handy to have the tower there. It's relatively simple, you just need to be able to see it, and you can communicate.
"For example, when we had the Optus outage a while ago, some people didn't know what to do because their phone, their internet, their TV all worked through the cellular network."
Mr Worthington has spent his career working in computer science and IT policy for the Australian government.
He said the tower was not as used as much as it used to be, our modern devices relying on the cellular network that use smaller, denser antennas.
"It's still useful for old-fashioned radio and TV broadcasting. If your TV has a little antenna that looks like a coathanger, then it's probably receiving a signal from the tower," Mr Worthington said.
"The tower is being overtaken by fibre optic cables, which you can put anywhere you want, and also by satellites.
"These days you probably wouldn't build it, but we've got it, so you may as well use it as a telecommunications tower."
Telstra still hasn't announced its plans for the tower or a reopening date for the site. The tower has been closed indefinitely since 2021.
This week young Canberran Samantha Hoyle spoke to The Canberra Times about her wish to see it reopened to the community.
For many, the tower isn't just part of the telecommunications network; it also represents a valuable part of Canberra's history.
Chair of the ACT Heritage Council Duncan Marshall helps identify and preserve places significant to the territory. He looks after sites such as Blundell's Cottage on Lake Burley Griffin.
He said the tower had played an important role in the telecommunications history of Canberra.
"Before new Parliament House was constructed with its very distinctive flagpole, in a way, the built icon of Canberra was the Telstra Tower," Mr Marshall said.
"It has all of the qualities - the history, the landmark, the architectural qualities - which suggests it could be something of heritage value in Canberra's story."
Mr Worthington said while he doesn't think it's something of great significance to Canberra, removing the tower would be another ballgame.
"Demolishing it would be a complicated, expensive business because it's on top of a mountain and it's a very, very solid structure," he said.
"It is helpful to have long-range communication in an emergency, but whether that would justify the maintenance of the tower, I don't know."
