{"id":17392,"date":"2022-04-23T01:58:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T17:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/astronomers-make-an-earth-day-plea-to-rein-in-satellite-constellations-for-the-environments-sake\/"},"modified":"2022-04-23T01:58:41","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T17:58:41","slug":"astronomers-make-an-earth-day-plea-to-rein-in-satellite-constellations-for-the-environments-sake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/astronomers-make-an-earth-day-plea-to-rein-in-satellite-constellations-for-the-environments-sake\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronomers make an Earth Day plea to rein in satellite constellations for the environment\u2019s sake"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/220422-starlink-630x315.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-692883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/220422-starlink-630x315.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/220422-starlink-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/220422-starlink.jpg 1207w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption>Astronomers say this streak in a Hubble Space Telescope image is likely to have been created by a Starlink satellite flying just a few miles above Hubble. (MAST Image via Nature Astronomy \/ Simon Porter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Astronomers have issued an Earth Day call for environmentalism to be extended more fully to the final frontier, and for companies such as SpaceX and Amazon to dial back their plans for mega-constellations.<\/p>\n<p>Among the authors of today\u2019s commentary in the journal Nature Astronomy is Meredith Rawls of the University of Washington.<\/p>\n<p>Astronomers have been raising concerns about the impact of having thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit for years, starting with SpaceX\u2019s launch of the first operational satellites for its Starlink broadband constellation in 2019. Rawls and the other authors of today\u2019s commentary stress that they aren\u2019t just worried about interference with their astronomical observations, but are also concerned about the broader impact on appreciation of the night sky.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need all hands on deck to address the rapidly changing satellite situation if we can hope to co-create a future with dark and quiet skies for everyone,\u201d Rawls, a research scientist with the&nbsp;Vera C. Rubin Observatory&nbsp;and UW\u2019s DIRAC Institute, said in a news release.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRubin Observatory will be one of the most severely impacted astronomy facilities by large numbers of bright satellites due to its large mirror and wide field of view \u2014 the same characteristics that make it such a remarkable engine for discovery,\u201d Rawls said. \u201cI care a lot about how satellite streaks affect science, but the case for dark and quiet skies is much larger than that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The commentary cites other threats to the space environment, ranging from on-orbit collision threats and orbital debris to the pollution caused by rocket launches. But it focuses primarily on projects including Starlink and Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper, which aim to put thousands of satellites into low Earth orbit, or LEO, to provide global broadband internet access from above.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Bad Are Satellite Constellations for Astronomy? | SciShow News\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2n2fKoNyEnw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Starlink and Project Kuiper are both headquartered in Redmond, Wash. SpaceX is building scores of satellites per month and is already offering limited internet service. Just this week, JSX, a Texas-based \u201chop-on\u201d airline, said it would use Starlink for its in-flight Wi-Fi. Project Kuiper, meanwhile, is still under development.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Previously:<\/strong> Radio astronomers look to the future as satellite mega-constellations light up the sky<\/p>\n<p>Lots of other companies \u2014 including OneWeb, Telesat and Boeing \u2014 have their own plans for broadband satellite constellations. If all those plans pan out, there could be tens of thousands of satellites spinning through the skies within a decade. For the purposes of their commentary, the authors of the Nature Astronomy commentary assume 100,000 satellites will be orbiting at altitudes in the range of 600 kilometers (373 miles) by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX and other companies have been working with astronomers on ways to minimize the impact of their satellites on night sky observations, but the authors of today\u2019s commentary say that\u2019s not enough. \u201cNone of these mitigations can fully avoid LEO satellite constellations harming astronomical science; launching significantly fewer satellites is the only mitigation that could do this,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n<p>Among the researchers\u2019 recommendations:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Regulatory agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission should assess the impact of space projects on Earth\u2019s space environment more fully during the licensing process. The authors define the space environment as the region between 62 miles (or 100 kilometers, the so-called \u201cKarman Line\u201d) and 22,000 miles in altitude (the orbital distance for geostationary satellites).<\/li>\n<li>Scientists should develop metrics for a global \u201cSpace Traffic Footprint,\u201d loosely interpreted as the burden that any intentionally launched object poses on the safety and sustainability of other orbiting objects and on the orbital environment itself. The concept is analogous to the \u201cCarbon Footprint\u201d that figures so prominently in assessing human-caused climate change.<\/li>\n<li>In February, the International Astronomical Union established a new center to address concerns about satellite interference with night sky observations, and the authors call for setting up a satellite observation hub under the center\u2019s organizational umbrella. \u201cSuch a long-term mitigation activity will require significant sustained resources,\u201d they say.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some of the authors of the commentary are involved in a legal challenge to FCC rulings relating to SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network, and the arguments in their amicus brief parallel the arguments in today\u2019s commentary.<\/p>\n<p><em>The lead author of the Nature Astronomy commentary, titled \u201cThe Case for Space Environmentalism,\u201d is Andy Lawrence of the University of Edinburgh. In addition to Lawrence and Rawls, co-authors include Moriba Jah, Aaron Boley, Federico Di Vruno, Simon Garrington, Michael Kramer, Samantha Lawler, James Lowenthal, Jonathan McDowell and Mark McCaughrean<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Astronomers say this streak in a Hubble Space Telescope image is likely to have been created by a Starlink satellite flying just a few miles above Hubble. (MAST Image via Nature Astronomy \/ Simon Porter) Astronomers have issued an Earth Day call for environmentalism to be extended more fully to the final frontier, and for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[252,20,4336,442,440,4368],"class_list":["post-17392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-broadband","tag-satellite","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-satellites","tag-starlink","tag-university-of-washington"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17392"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17392\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}