SpaceX has launched the latest batch of Starlink satellites — but researchers are warning about an all-new threat from these mega-constellations, po

SpaceX Starlink: how it could kickstart an 'uncontrolled experiment'

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2021-05-28 09:30:07

SpaceX has launched the latest batch of Starlink satellites — but researchers are warning about an all-new threat from these mega-constellations, potentially kickstarting an “uncontrolled” science experiment with the Earth’s atmosphere.

On Wednesday at 2:59 p.m. Eastern time, the firm launched 60 satellites for Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Ars Technica notes that it’s the 100th consecutive successful launch of a Falcon 9 booster after the CRS-7 mission failed to reach the International Space Station in 2015. It’s also the 16th launch of 2021, meaning SpaceX has launched a rocket every nine days so far.

But the feat may come at a cost. In a paper for Nature this month, researchers claim the development of mega-constellations like Starlink “risks multiple tragedies of the commons, including tragedies to ground-based astronomy, Earth orbit, and Earth’s upper atmosphere.”

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