Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

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2024-05-09 20:30:08

Over the last number of years, our planet has become encircled by Starlink, OneWeb, and other “megaconstellation” satellites.

Yes, the emergence of those megaconstellations offers great benefit for humanity. But in a wait-a-minute pause, there are also substantial costs, including the imposition on humankind’s ongoing and growing thirst for astronomical peering into the surrounding universe.

That’s the view of David Koplow, the Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Starlink constellation pass overhead near Carson National Forest, New Mexico, photographed soon after launch. SpaceX Starlink Satellites over Carson National Forest, New Mexico, photographed soon after launch. Credit: Mike Lewinsky/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

“We are just beginning to appreciate how bad the disruption can be for land-based and space-based telescopes, and as more and more satellite overflights occur, the problems will only intensify,” Koplow told Inside Outer Space.