February 10, 2022
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has raised alarm over SpaceX’s decision to send 30,000 satellites into space.
According to NASA, such action could potentially cause an “increase in the frequency of conjunction events and possible impacts to NASA’s science and human spaceflight mission.”
While a total of 25,000 objects are now being tracked in orbit – and about 6,100 below 600 km – NASA said the SpaceX expansion would lead “to more than double the number of tracked objects in orbit and increase the number of objects below 600 km over five-fold.”
Apart from NASA, other companies have expressed concerns about SpaceX’s satellite deployment plans to the FCC. Some of these companies include Amazon and Dish Network.
Amazon, which is building similar satellites, called on the FCC to impose “reasonable sanctions.”
This is necessary because SpaceX satellites, according to operational plans, “at least hundreds–and potentially more than ten thousand–SpaceX satellites could operate at the same altitudes as the Kuiper System.”
The danger of such actions is “a dramatic increase in risks and other burdens on the Kuiper System.”
For more information, read the original story in Reuters.
