In physics, the expression inertial space refers to the background reference that is provided by the phenomenon of inertia.
Inertia is opposition to change of velocity, that is: change of velocity with respect to the background, the background that all physical objects are embedded in. Accelerometers measure how hard an object is accelerating with respect to inertial space. More precisely, accelerometers measure the magnitude of the change of velocity with respect to inertial space.
The inertial guidance systems that are used in navigation and in guidance of missiles work by detecting acceleration and rotation with respect to inertial space.
Read more about Inertial Space: Derivatives With Respect To Time, Gyroscopes, Astronomy, Applications in Navigation
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“Art and power will go on as they have done,—will make day out of night, time out of space, and space out of time.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)