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The challenge of satellite megaconstellations

Nature Astronomy volume 4, pages 1022–1023 (2020)Cite this article

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Earth’s exosphere is set to become increasingly crowded, with tens of thousands of commercial telecommunication satellites planned in the next few years. We need to ensure that technological and socio-economic advancements will not imperil scientific progress and humanity’s access to dark skies.

In the 63 years since the launch of Sputnik 1, astronomers and space scientists have come to rely on artificial satellites for much of our work. Without orbiting space telescopes, study of the Universe in X-rays and gamma rays would be almost impossible, and there would have been no Hubble images on the front pages of national newspapers. But as early as 1961, radio astronomers warned of the threat the exploitation of space might pose to our science when Project West Ford attempted to create an artificial ionosphere to enhance communications by deploying 480 million copper needles in orbit.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for assistance with this Comment from M. Barstow, S. Garrington and R. Davies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, London, UK

    Robert Massey

  2. Padova Astronomical Observatory, Padova, Italy

    Sara Lucatello

  3. Department of Astronomy, University of Padova, Conegliano, Italy

    Piero Benvenuti

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  1. Robert Massey
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  2. Sara Lucatello
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  3. Piero Benvenuti
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Correspondence to Robert Massey, Sara Lucatello or Piero Benvenuti.

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Massey, R., Lucatello, S. & Benvenuti, P. The challenge of satellite megaconstellations. Nat Astron 4, 1022–1023 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01224-9

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