Musk under fire: New global force to ‘protect’ space from satellites amid asteroid threat

A group of astronomers have set up a global force that would take action against the thousands of satellites that are now preventing the study of the night sky. Scientists are finding it increasingly difficult to study space as thousands of satellites forming major systems called megaconstellations leave bright streaks across images taken by astronomers’ telescopes.

Elon Musk and his company SpaceX have faced flak over their megaconstellations, as SpaceX crossed the threshold of more than 2,000 Starlink satellites in space earlier this month.

The company currently has 2,042 satellites, is likely to launch more, as it is authorized for 4,408 satellites, all inside orbits at around 550 kilometres.

These satellites are leaving bright streaks in photographs taken by astronomers, which could obscure vital information about asteroids passing by earth.

The Starlink systems currently leave 35 more traces in photographs than they were two years ago, with one now being found every ten days.

In order to combat this threat, the International Astronomical Union has established a new organisation.

The new Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Skies from Satellite Constellation Interference – which works alongside the US National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) and the Square Kilometre Array Organisation (SKAO) in the UK – was set up with the intention to “unify voices across the global astronomical community with regard to the protection of the dark and quiet sky from satellite constellation interference”.

SKAO’s Federico Di Vruno told the BBC, scientists were concerned that science could become a “free-for-all” if space was cluttered by too many megaconstellations.

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Mr Musk aims to launch 40,000 satellites in space for the Starlink project, which could completely obscure every twilight image taken by astronomers with four bright white streaks.

Aside from SpaceX, astronomers are concerned about the UK’s OneWeb and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, who also aim to launch their own networks.
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The resulting pollution could from these satellites influence radio detectors that study the universe after the Big Bang, as well as planetary defences against incoming asteroids.

Mr Di Vruno said: “At optical wavelengths, observations with long exposure times will be affected the most, particularly in the hours close to twilight, and observing low on the horizon.

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