NEEDING SPACE
‘Terrifying’ video reveals Elon Musk’s huge army of satellites as scientists warn of Starlink’s ‘hidden danger’
A VIDEO of Elon Musk's web of Starlink satellites has left onlookers stunned, as scientists warn of their little-known risks to the night sky.
There are, at most, around 9,000 stars visible to Earth's view of the sky, and around 5,000 Starlink satellites, as of August.
1
The orange dots represent Starlink satellites.
According to , low-frequency radio waves are 'leaking' into the sky and hurting scientist's ability to make astronomical observations.
Sky gazers fear that soon satellites will outnumber the amount of stars there are to see, according to comments made on Musk's social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
One onlooker called the "depressing", before adding: "Literally in only a few years they will outnumber the stars themselves.
READ MORE ON SPACE
"Gotta love lack of oversight that allows megalomaniacs to ruin the planet for everyone."
Another : "I don’t remember voting Musk to be tsar of space!
"That’s just a start because repeat this over again with China and India and other billionaire space Cowboys."
However, Dr Kit Chapman, science historian and lecturer at Falmouth University, was quick to point out that these orange dots are not to scale.
Most read in Tech
"There's lots of things you can say about the science of space. Space junk, choice of materials, the chemistry of satellites, etc," he .
"But 'omg this little animation shows space is so overcrowded'... like, do they seriously think each satellite is the size of Greater London?
"A Starlink satellite, for those wondering, is about the size of a dining room table (or, wrestling fans, the size and weight of Andre the Giant).
"Space is not overcrowded. We humans are just really crap at understanding scale and numbers."
Another onlooker the video wasn't particularly "impressive or scary" but that it made clear Starlink would be significantly contributing to space debris.
"It seems like Starlink satellites are designed to deorbit, but they risk collisions and creating more debris," they tweeted.
"Cleaning Low Earth Orbit is still in an experimental stage..."
A looming issue
Space junk, or space debris, is anything left by humans that is stuck in Earth's orbit - be it a dead satellite or fleck of paint chipped off a rocket.
Objects in Earth's orbit travel at about 15,000 miles per hour - fast enough that if a small piece collided with a satellite or space ship it could cause some serious damage.
The International Space Station often engages in manoeuvring missions to avoid pieces of space junk.
But as the global space industry opens up to billionaire entrepreneurs like Musk, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic - activity in Earth's orbit has rocketed.
What comes alongside heightened activity is more debris.
Scientists are not only concerned that the growing number of satellites in orbit will change the landscape of the night sky.
But they are also afraid of an extreme collision event, like what Nasa scientist Donald Kessler proposed in 1978.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Kessler said that if there was too much space junk in orbit, it could result in a chain reaction.
In this instance, more objects collide and create new space junk in the process, to the point where Earth's orbit became unusable.
Best Phone and Gadget tips and hacks
Looking for tips and hacks for your phone? Want to find those secret features within social media apps? We have you covered...
- How to delete your Instagram account
- What does pending mean on Snapchat?
- How to check if you've been blocked on WhatsApp
- How to drop a pin on Google Maps
- How can I change my Facebook password?
- How to go live on TikTok
- How to clear the cache on an iPhone
- What is NFT art?
- What is OnlyFans?
- What does Meta mean?
Get all the latest WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and other tech gadget stories here.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]
Topics