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It’s no secret that Elon Musk is divisive. The CEO of Tesla Motors and founder of SpaceX can be abrasive, and often seems to overlook just how invasive his companies’ inventions can be. That’s not to say he’s universally despised; quite the contrary. Musk is charismatic, likable and friendly. However, his actions often upset and frustrate the public.
Case in point? Musk’s new “Starlink” initiative, which involves hundreds of satellites being launched into the sky. The satellite network is aimed at increasing global internet coverage, but it’s also incredibly noticeable to stargazers. In a tweet, Irish comedian Dara O’Briain sardonically noted “There goes the night sky.”
Like most of Musk’s projects, his heart really is in the right place with Starlink. The project is aimed at providing cheap, reliable internet access to the entire globe. Granting areas that are very remote computer access to entertainment and education is a noble goal.
However, to do so, he needs to launch around 40,000 satellites into orbit around the Earth. This has a few side effects. For one, it means that the light pollution in the night sky will continue, making it harder for stargazers to make out cosmic bodies.
Further, many companies, not just SpaceX, are launching satellites into orbit. There is a growing cloud of metal and debris in space over our planet. This could become a serious issue in the future for space exploration, as any one of these satellites impacting a rocket ship would be catastrophic.
Due to a lack of regulation over satellite launches, we could be making a prison for ourselves. By filling the sky with satellites, the risk of two bumping into one another rises exponentially. If this occurs even one time, the results could lock humans on Earth for hundreds of years. The reason? The resulting shrapnel field from the satellites colliding would be all but impossible to clean up.
That same shrapnel field would arc off in a million directions at once, filling low-orbit with debris. Each piece of shrapnel would be capable of shredding another satellite, adding it to the growing cloud of debris in the sky. Eventually, nearly all satellites would become space junk, and rockets would be unable to safely escape Earth’s atmosphere.
Not to mention, this would also render nearly all GPS services useless. Satellite TV and radio would cease to function. And, ironically, Musk’s own Starlink program would be nothing more than a fine cloud of metal in a low orbit over Earth.
