Feb. 27, Krista Lynne Smith, an observational astrophysicist and assistant professor at SMU Dallas specializing in star formation in distant galaxies, for a commentary explaining how the proliferation of satellites in space threatens our ability to stargaze or conduct research. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading What if we couldn’t see the stars anymore?: https://bit.ly/3tdWnKx
If you live in the heart of North Texas or any large metropolitan area, you are probably familiar with a light-polluted sky. Even at midnight, the sky glows a dark blue, fading to dusky yellow near the horizon. At most, you can see a handful of the brightest stars reduced to dim pinpricks.
However, if you drive just a few hours outside of town, you can experience a breathtaking sight: a night sky filled with glittering stars, the shimmering swath of the Milky Way arcing overhead, and if you’re lucky, a few bright planets like steady jewels among them.
Such a sight is viscerally awe-inspiring in its natural wonder, hearkening back to our ancestors looking up and asking the kind of questions that led to all of human endeavor. Our species has since learned to read the secrets of the universe in the light we receive from the heavens. We have built technological marvels: observatories with instruments sensitive enough to collect the photons, little individual packets of light, sent to us from distant stars, galaxies and planets around other suns.
How SpaceEx, Amazon and other satellite companies threaten the joy of stargazing.
By Krista Lynne Smith
If you live in the heart of North Texas or any large metropolitan area, you are probably familiar with a light-polluted sky. Even at midnight, the sky glows a dark blue, fading to dusky yellow near the horizon. At most, you can see a handful of the brightest stars reduced to dim pinpricks.
However, if you drive just a few hours outside of town, you can experience a breathtaking sight: a night sky filled with glittering stars, the shimmering swath of the Milky Way arcing overhead, and if you’re lucky, a few bright planets like steady jewels among them.
Such a sight is viscerally awe-inspiring in its natural wonder, hearkening back to our ancestors looking up and asking the kind of questions that led to all of human endeavor. Our species has since learned to read the secrets of the universe in the light we receive from the heavens. We have built technological marvels: observatories with instruments sensitive enough to collect the photons, little individual packets of light, sent to us from distant stars, galaxies and planets around other suns.
Now, due to a catastrophic failure of technological innovators to communicate or consider the consequences of their actions, both the scientific pursuit of the nature of the universe and the beautiful dark sky that is the birthright of all humans are under immediate and dire threat.
In 2019, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX initiated the first phase of Starlink, a vast network of satellites occupying a web in low-Earth orbit to ostensibly lay the groundwork for worldwide internet access. The sudden deployment and lack of regulatory concern shocked astronomers, but not as much as the satellites themselves. Unexpectedly very bright, the satellites were easily visible to the naked eye; many appeared brighter than most stars.
Such orbital networks are called satellite constellations, and SpaceX is not the only player in the game. Starlink’s upcoming phases, as well as those from OneWeb, Amazon’s Kuiper constellation, the gigantic Chinese Guowang constellation, and others, will result in approximately 100,000 of these satellites in low-Earth orbit in the next 10 years.
Even now, with only about 5% of the planned satellites in place, the effects are noticeable to the casual sky observer and alarming for professional astronomers. You can observe the Starlink trails yourself, without leaving the city. They appear as a straight line of bright objects moving across the sky, not transient like meteors, but persistent. It is a fascinating sight.
However, fascination fades when you realize that you can’t escape the satellite constellations. Even if you travel to the most remote location on Earth, with the darkest skies in the world, these constellations will be visible. They are in orbit. There is no way to avoid them.
Once there are hundreds of thousands of satellites in the sky, it will be difficult to see the stars from anywhere on the planet. The awe-inspiring sky of our ancestors will be gone. In addition to the thousands of new bright objects, sunlight refracting off of the mega constellations will cause a general brightening of the sky similar to light pollution in cities, but worldwide. Humanity’s view of the true night sky will be cut off. No human born after this decade will be able to see it.
Astronomers are in even more urgent straits, as the satellites are already causing major problems for observatories worldwide. Even when darkened by mitigation strategies, rendering them less visible to the naked eye, satellites are still millions of times brighter than the sensitivity limits of our telescopes.
One need only look at this image of Albireo, a bright double-star in the constellation Cygnus, to see what these constellations do to otherwise beautiful and scientifically useful astronomical observations, causing streaks of light across the image. Darkening efforts by SpaceX have still utterly failed to reduce its satellites to a level that does not severely disrupt ground-based astronomical observations.
Even worse, earlier this month NASA wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission expressing grave concern that even orbital telescopes such as Hubble are observing the satellites, and that the upcoming Starlink phases will imperil science and human spaceflight missions.
Over the past two years, professional astronomers and activists alike have been raising the alarm and attempting to hastily build communicative relationships with these companies. In addition to the scientific impact, there are serious concerns about the effects of de-orbited or failed satellites on the atmosphere and the oceans. These concerns are highlighted by the failure of a recent Starlink fleet, when 40 new satellites were forced to reenter the atmosphere and burn up after encountering a geomagnetic storm.
Some companies have responded positively to astronomers’ efforts. Industry representatives have participated in workshops with professional astronomers to learn about concerns and attempt to develop mitigation strategies in satellite design. Changes in the shape of the satellites and their orbital parameters can significantly reduce their visibility. Detailed catalogs of orbital parameters of existing constellations enable observatories to anticipate and mitigate their effects on the data.
Working together through officially supported channels, we can reach technological compromise driven by innovation. While the ideal situation for astronomers is for no satellite constellations to exist at all, scientists recognize that this is not practical. Satellites are critical for important technology.
SpaceX says it intends to bring low-cost internet service to remote areas of the world, and the goal of worldwide internet access is noble and worth pursuing. Other options, such as ground-based fiber internet, are potentially workable. But even if satellite constellations are the best answer, the environmental and scientific impacts must be vetted as part of any proposals.
An explosion in the number of constellation fleets over the next decade with no regard for the environment is inevitable without the urgent development of up-to-date, modern, scientifically informed protections.
Publicly holding SpaceX, Amazon, and other companies accountable for disregarding the consequences is one important step; the other is urging lawmakers at the state and federal levels to support the action items put forward by dedicated groups of scientists, environmental activists, and industry representatives from meetings such as last year’s Satellite Constellation 2 (SATCON2) workshop organized by the American Astronomical Society and the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab.
Perhaps the most straightforward recommendation is that the night sky be officially considered part of the environment, and therefore subject to the protections of the National Environmental Policy Act, which has so far exempted the satellite constellation industry from its restrictions.
Each year, more applications are filed by companies intending to launch constellations. Even if the U.S. gradually establishes regulations, the typical timeline will be too slow to prevent degradation of the sky. The situation is urgent, but there are paths to compromise and preservation, and the groundwork is already being laid.
Actionable reports produced by industrial and scientific collaboration exist. Recommendations include establishing SatHub, a proposed database of satellite orbital parameters, mitigation software, and training curricula and requiring satellite operators to consult invested groups like scientists and indigenous communities. Corporations and scientists must continue joint engagement in workshops like SATCON2. Further, environmental protections like NEPA must extend to Earth orbit. Above all, governments must have a coordinated approach to enforce regulation of the satellite constellation industry, and slow down of launches until this is established.
It is vital to bring astronomers, industrial representatives, environmental scientists, and the general public together to preserve the scientific quest to explore the universe, and to protect the uncorrupted night sky of our heritage as a natural resource for all future generations.
Krista Lynne Smith is an observational astrophysicist and assistant professor at Southern Methodist University specializing in star formation in distant galaxies and the environments of supermassive black holes. In her research, she uses a wide array of telescopes on Earth, in orbit and on the International Space Station. She wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.