Starlink: "If SpaceX launches 12,000 satellites, they will outnumber the stars"
Starlink is Elon Musk's "revolutionary" idea to provide the entire globe with Internet access, all thanks to a network of satellites orbiting the Earth. 12,000 to be exact. And it is only one of many projects. Some astronomers are worried....
Visual pollution and sky congestion
On May 23, 2019, Space X proudly announced the launch of its first 60 satellites in orbit around the Earth as part of its Starlink project. They immediately formed a line of light points, visible from Earth, as they took off and spread even further aloft. 60 visible satellites is one thing, but what will happen when they reach 12,000 in number? This is an issue that is of increasing concern to more and more astronomers.
- Elon Musk is 70% sure he'll move to Mars
On May 25, NASA tweeted an image of this satellite belt from the sky:
The night sky is going to change forever. It started on 4 Oct 1957 @SpaceX #Starlink satellite train is a preview of what a spacefaring civilization does: large orbital infrastructure, regular commercial flights, global coverage to allow all humans to make use of space technology pic.twitter.com/oiqykwWIsr
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) May 26, 2019
SpaceX reassures as best it can
60 is a small figure compared to the 12,000 satellites that are expected to be launched by 2024. This would mean that among them, about a hundred would be constantly visible in the sky. Quite a bit of visual pollution, then. In this sense, SpaceX intends to reassure the public and ensure that satellites will be raised further up in orbit to be less visible. The company is also working on reducing their albedo, i.e. the ability of an object to reflect light.
But, it is not only Space X that wants to conquer the orbit of our planet with its satellites. There are many Internet projects in space that are supported by Amazon or OneWeb. So what happens when all these companies have sent their own satellites?
That'll make a formidable number of devices in the sky. Moreover, the astronomer Alex Parker, did not fail to mention: "If SpaceX launches all 12,000, they will outnumber stars visible to the naked eye."
Source: RFI, Daily Geek Show
considering you could only see about 100 at a given time, to say 12000 satellites will outnumber the visible stars is silly hyperbole.
That being said, does not reduce the fact space around earth is totally polluted with something totally unnecessary because there are other options available to a chief the same goal which are not (that) polluting in this massive way.
Elon is on steroids and must be halted !!