SpaceX, Starlink, and the Commercialization of Space

This week, masters student Conor Hayes tackles a thorny issue: how to balance the expansion of private actors in space and the benefits their work can have for those of us on earth with the needs of astronomical research. It's not inconceivable that such an expansion could change the night sky forever, not just for scientists working with sensitive instruments, but also for most of the world's city-bound population for whom a starry sky could be replaced by criss-crossing lights. Must we give up wonder to achieve a better life for each another? Image: 19 Starlink satellites unintentionally imaged by the Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. (CC BY 4.0, NOIARL/CTIO/AURA/DELVE, https://nationalastro.org/news/starlink-satellites-imaged-from-ctio/)

by Conor Hayes

One of the consequences of the way that our economic systems are structured is an ongoing competition between public and private interests to exploit various resources. This competition rolled through astronomical Twitter like a bowling ball through a set of pins in November 2019, when the image above first made its way onto the internet.

Taken using the Victor M. Blanco 4-metre telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, it shows 19 bright streaks caused by a train of Starlink satellites passing through the telescope’s field of view. Unsurprisingly, this greatly reduced the quality of the data, leading to widespread concern about the long-term impact of Starlink on astronomical observations.

The mere fact that Starlink satellites are visible in telescope imagery isn’t the problem. Outside contamination of CCD images is nearly inevitable with a long-enough exposure time. If you ever get a chance to look at raw data from a telescope, you will probably see similar, though shorter, bright streaks caused by cosmic rays impacting the detector. Furthermore, artificial satellites have been occasionally ruining images for as long as there have been a significant number of them in orbit. So what is the problem then?

Part of what concerns astronomers about the Starlink constellation is the sheer number of satellites involved. SpaceX currently has authorization to launch 12,000 (!) Starlink satellites, and has submitted paperwork to approve another 30,000 (!!). For comparison, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs currently lists about 10,400 objects launched into space since 1957. When the constellation is completed, the number of visible Starlink satellites may even outnumber visible stars in heavily light-polluted areas like Toronto. Given that the constellation is intended to surround the Earth at many different orbital planes, having a small handful of Starlink satellites streak across your telescope’s field of view may become a regular occurrence.

In addition to antagonizing astronomers who work in the optical, the development of Starlink has also worried radio astronomers. Ground-based radio astronomy is already hard enough thanks to the fact that many of our modern-day technological conveniences are constantly blasting radio waves into the environment. Consequently, much like how optical telescopes are located in dark areas away from major population centers, radio telescopes are often surrounded by “radio quiet zones”, large swaths of land where radio emissions are strictly regulated. But when those radio sources are passing overhead, as the Starlink satellites will be, those radio quiet zones may become significantly louder.

If nothing else, the conflict over Starlink shows how vital it will be for the scientific community and private businesses to communicate with each other to find a mutually beneficial way forward. Though SpaceX is now looking into ways to make their satellites less bright, including darker paint, sunshields, and shutting off transmissions when passing over radio quiet zones, these kinds of after-the-fact adjustments are not sustainable in the long term. Though I personally find the commercialization of space somewhat distasteful, I also recognize that as the barrier to entry gets lower, thanks in large part to the innovations championed by companies like SpaceX, it is almost inevitable that commercial interests will want to spread outward. Because astronomers have held a near-total monopoly on space for so long, learning to let other people in will be a difficult process, one that will require sustained, genuine cooperation from all interested parties.

I didn’t start writing this post with the intent to argue for the termination of the Starlink program. It’s a difficult needle for me to thread because on one hand, I am an astronomy grad student whose future career could be hindered by a poorly-managed privatization of space. On the other hand, I recognize that SpaceX’s goal with Starlink is an admirable one. The past year has demonstrated how global access to reliable, high-speed internet is now more of a necessity than a luxury, and demanding that Starlink be shut down just because of the challenges it presents for astronomy would be irresponsible and short-sighted. This goes both ways, of course. It was incredibly disheartening to scroll through some of the replies to the original tweet and see how many people were calling ground-based astronomy little more than a vanity project with no real worth to humanity (Elon’s tweets dismissing astronomers’ concerns out of hand and telling them that they were overreacting certainly didn’t help, either).

Though I don’t have any concrete solutions right now, it seems increasingly likely that, as is the case in so many other areas of our society, the responsibility for dealing with the monumental shifts in the way that the private and public spheres interact with each other beyond Earth will ultimately fall upon the next generation of astronomers currently working their way through their undergraduate and graduate educations. I do believe that we can eventually strike the right balance, but I hope that time comes before unregulated, antagonistic competition severely damages our ability to look up at the sky and wonder what lies beyond our home.