Washington:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) expressed concern about SpaceX’s plan to deploy about 30,000 satellites to its Starlink, as well as some major companies.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has previously obtained approval for about 12,000 satellites to provide broadband internet and has applied for approval for a second-generation constellation of 30,000 satellites.
“NASA is concerned about the potential for a significant increase in the frequency of conjunction events and possible implications for NASA’s scientific and human spaceflight missions,” the agency wrote to the Federal Communications Commission.
NASA noted that a total of 25,000 objects are currently being tracked in orbit – and about 6,100 below 600 km. SpaceX’s Gen2 expansion “would more than double the number of tracked objects in orbit and fivefold the number of objects below 600 km,” it added.
Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who is on the American Astronomical Society panel investigating the effects of satellites on astronomy, said, “We were concerned about having these large numbers of satellites disrupting astronomical observations… more experience with the thousands of operational satellites before we can scale up to the tens of thousands.”
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk tweeted on Jan. 15 that SpaceX had 1,469 Starlink satellites active and 272 soon going into operational orbits.
Amazon.com, which has pledged to spend at least $10 billion through its Project Kuiper program to build 3,236 such satellites, has separately raised concerns with the FCC about SpaceX’s plan, as has Dish Network.
Amazon said that under SpaceX’s filing, “at least hundreds — and possibly more than ten thousand — SpaceX satellites could operate at the same height as the Kuiper system.”
It warned that “the effect of this orbital overlap would be a dramatic increase in risks and other burdens on the Kuiper system” and asked the FCC to impose “reasonable terms.”
Although extremely expensive to implement, satellite technology can provide high-speed internet for people who live in rural areas or in hard-to-reach places where fiber optic cables and cell towers don’t reach. The technology can also be a critical backstop when hurricanes or other natural disasters disrupt communications.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)