Viasat<\/b> has taken issue with SpaceX<\/b>\u2019s request to lower the orbital altitude of its Starlink satellite constellation, and requested the FCC<\/b> to prepare an environmental impact statement on Starlink. <\/p>\n
In an FCC filing on Dec. 22, Viasat outlined its environmental concerns with Starlink and with SpaceX\u2019s request to relocate the satellites to lower orbital altitudes, specifically arguing that the modification would accelerate the time period in which the satellites reenter the atmosphere; it would likely increase light pollution; and would likely increase space debris. <\/p>\n
Viasat has asked the FCC to prepare an environmental impact statement or an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires federal agencies to detail the environmental impacts of major federal actions. <\/p>\n
Viasat argued that SpaceX prioritizes \u201cdisposability and replaceability\u201d of its satellites over \u201creliability and safety.\u201d According to the filing, SpaceX has said that lowering the altitude of its satellites would make the time period in which its satellites would burn up in the atmosphere less than five years, which SpaceX has said in the past will lead to a cleaner orbital environment. <\/p>\n
But Viasat argues that SpaceX\u2019s plan to launch an estimated 10,000 satellites over 15 years to maintain a fleet of 4,408 operating satellites is \u201cunprecedented\u201d and \u201cthere is no base of experience on which the Commission can draw to determine that granting the proposed modification.\u201d <\/p>\n
Viasat, citing research from The Aerospace Corporation<\/strong>, argued that when satellites built from aluminum, like Starlink, burn up, they can produce aluminum oxide or alumina, which contributes to climate change. Viasat also claimed that SpaceX\u2019s Starlink plans \u201ccould increase the risk of health-related harm to the human environment to an unacceptable level.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt is our obligation as users of orbital space \u2014 and the commission\u2019s responsibility as a regulator of its commercial use \u2014 to ensure that technologies are deployed responsibly and efficiently, informed by an understanding of potential impacts to the Earth, its orbital environment, and its inhabitants,\u201d Viasat argued in the filing. <\/p>\n SpaceX has not responded in a formal filing to the FCC, but on Dec. 29, Elon Musk tweeted: \u201cStarlink poses a hazard to Viasat\u2019s profits, more like it. Stop the sneaky moves, Charlie Ergen!\u201d referencing the co-founder and chairman of Dish Network<\/strong> and Echostar<\/strong>, which owns Hughes Network Systems<\/b>, Viasat\u2019s satellite broadband competitor in the U.S. Ergen is not involved with Viasat. <\/p>\n Later, Musk tweeted: \u201cAnd Mark Dankberg. This action is wack, not dank!!\u201d referencing Viasat co-founder and executive chairman. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Viasat has taken issue with SpaceX\u2019s request to lower the orbital altitude of its Starlink satellite constellation, and requested the FCC to prepare an environmental impact statement on Starlink. In an FCC filing on Dec. 22, Viasat outlined its environmental concerns with Starlink and with SpaceX\u2019s request to relocate the satellites to lower orbital altitudes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58363,"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":[],"class_list":["post-58362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58362"}],"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=58362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}