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I walk out of my rural Saskatchewan home before dawn and look up, expecting to be breathless from the number of stars above me. I’m a professional astronomer, but I still enjoy naked eye stargazing as much as an impatient child. This is the first place I have lived that is dark enough to see the Milky Way easily, and I am amazed and awestruck every time I look up.
This time, however, I swear slowly. There is a bright satellite. And another sequel behind. And another. And another.
I was excited to see the artificial satellites, but now I know what’s coming. We are about to undergo a dramatic transition in our satellite experience. You will no longer flee your city on a camping trip and see the stars unobstructed: you will have to look through a grid of crawling and glowing satellites, regardless of your location.
Crowded orbits
If the mega constellations of satellites come true, the night sky will become a mundane highway of moving lights, obscuring the stars. Now, every time I see the bright reflection of a satellite tracking through the stars, I am reminded of what has already been approved by the United States Federal Communications Commission, the agency that regulates the frequencies transmitted by satellites in the United States, in charge to regulate every space launch on the planet.
SpaceX has already received approval for 12,000 Starlink satellites and is seeking approval for another 30,000. Other companies are not far behind.
The Starlink mega constellation itself would increase the number of active satellites by over tenfold: there are about 3,000 active satellites in orbit; Current Starlinks are 99% brighter because they are in lower orbits, closer to the surface of the Earth and more reflective than Starlink engineers predicted.
SpaceX is launching sets of 60 satellites every two weeks and there will be a thousand Starlinks in orbit by Christmas.
With the naked eye, stargazing from a dark sky location allows you to see approximately 4,500 stars. From a typical suburban location, around 400 can be seen. Simulations show that from 52 degrees north (the latitude of both Saskatoon and London, UK) hundreds of Starlinks will be visible for a couple of hours after sunset and before. of dawn (comparable to the number of visible stars) and dozens of these will be visible all night during the summer months.
Light pollution has long been a threat to stargazing, but at least it can be avoided by leaving urban centers.
But satellites will be a global phenomenon that obscures the stars, especially severe in the latitudes of the northern United States, Canada and much of Europe.
Star sacrifices
To their credit, SpaceX and Amazon – which is also investing in satellite Internet services – have voluntarily begun to participate in discussions with professional astronomers about possible ways to mitigate the effects of thousands of bright satellites on specific observations, such as interstellar objects.
SpaceX also tested a “darksat” coating, although the astronomers’ preliminary measurements showed it was only slightly fainter than other Starlinks. Meanwhile, the launches continue with bright and absolute Starlinks.
Simulations show that professional astronomy and amateur astrophotography will be severely affected by the mega constellations of light. The discoveries of dangerous near-Earth asteroids will be particularly devastated by the hundreds of Starlinks confusing their targets, leaving Earth more vulnerable to world-altering impacts.
The purpose of the Starlink mega constellation is to provide global internet access. It is often claimed by Starlink supporters that this will provide Internet access to places around the globe not currently served by other communication technologies. But the information currently available shows that the cost of access will be too high in almost any place that needs internet access. Therefore, Starlink will likely provide an alternative only for residents of rich countries who already have other ways to access the internet.
Crowding the night sky
Even as SpaceX changes its plans, other companies are actively developing separate megaconstellations and there are more in the works.
At the moment, there are no rules on satellite orbits or right of way, and if a collision (or multiple collisions) should occur, it is unclear who would be to blame and who should clean up the debris (if this is even possible). . The only international law that applies to satellite debris, from 1972, basically states that the country that launched the satellite must clean up any mess it leaves on the surface of the Earth after the crash.
Most satellites today are launched by private companies, not governments, and most of the satellite debris remains abandoned in orbit because there are no rules on cleaning. There are thousands of pieces of this space junk, ranging in size from bolts to dead satellites the size of a bus.
With tens of thousands of new satellites approved for launch and no laws on orbit crowding, right of way or space cleanup, the stage is set for the disastrous possibility of Kessler’s syndrome, a cascade of debris that could destroy most satellites in orbit and prevent launches for decades.
Losing our connections
As humans, we have deep connections with stars that date back to the dawn of humanity and, in fact, we are made of material from ancient stars.
The Native Skywatchers program celebrates humanity’s ancient love of the night sky and shares indigenous knowledge of astronomy. An elderly Dakota recently shared her traditional knowledge of the skies: the spirit of the blue woman To Wiŋ lives in Wichakiyuhapi (the Big Dipper), where she leads new children from the Star Nation into our world and waits to greet our spirits at the brings while we leave our world.
Big companies like SpaceX and Amazon will only respond to legislation – which is slow, especially for international legislation – and to consumer pressure. Is having another source of the internet worth losing access to unhindered stargazing for you and almost every other person on the planet? Our species has been observing the stars for thousands of years, do we really want to lose access now to the benefit of a few large corporations?
On your next clear night, go out and look up. Enjoy the stars you can see now, because without major changes in the plans of companies that want to launch mega-constellations, your view of the stars is about to change dramatically.
Samantha Lawler is an assistant professor of astronomy, Regina University.
This article first appeared in The Conversation.
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