Tag

Mega-constellations
12
Jan

Technical Document: Dark and Quiet Skies II Working Group Reports

January 12, 2022
The working group reports from the @UN/Spain/@IAU_org Dark and Quiet Skies for Science and Society II conference are out. The reports focus on the feasibility of implementing specific measures to mitigate the impact of artificial interferences. More: https://t.co/kgNgMb2ZTq1/2 pic.twitter.com/SzmbgooDSL— NOIRLab (@NOIRLabAstro) January 10, 2022 Image credit: NOIRLab/@UNOOSA/IAU/Government of Spain/M. Lewinsky NOIRLab has published The Working...
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08
Oct

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS: Satellite swarms are threatening the night sky. Is low-Earth orbit the next great crucible of environmental conflict?

October 8, 2021
Source: https://www.science.org/content/article/satellite-swarms-are-threatening-night-sky-creating-new-zone-environmental-conflict 7 OCT 2021 BY JOSHUA SOKOL On 19 December 2019, Tony Tyson, an experimental physicist at the University of California (UC), Davis, joined a conference call with billionaire Elon Musk that helped shape the fate of starry nights on Earth. The call was cordial but tense. Seven months earlier, Musk’s company SpaceX had...
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20
Sep

Satellite swarms may outshine the night sky’s natural constellations

September 20, 2021
Source: ScienceNews https://www.sciencenews.org/article/satellite-mega-constellations-night-sky-stars-simulations “Mega-constellations” from those satellites will be visible to the naked eye, simulations suggest By Lisa Grossman Companies like SpaceX and Amazon have launched hundreds of satellites into low orbits since 2019, with plans to launch thousands more in the works — a trend that’s alarming astronomers. The goal of these satellite “mega-constellations” is...
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29
Aug

Satellite Mega Constellations: NEPA- Environmental Impact Assessment

August 29, 2021
In the US, satellite activity is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. Starlink Train, Photo by Forest Katsch on Unsplash 28 August 2021 There are no binding international laws or regulations in place to protect the night sky. Does the FCC’s lack of review of commercial mega constellations satellite projects violate the National Environmental Policy...
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09
Jul

Jason Report on the Impacts of Large Satellite Constellations

July 9, 2021
Source: https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/jasonreportconstellations/ The U.S. National Science Foundation commissioned a study by the independent science advisory group JASON to assess the impact of current and planned large satellite constellations on astronomical observations in 2020. The charge for JASON was to: Understand the types and numbers of spacecraft planned for launch in the next decade.Understand the current...
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30
Jun

Losing The Sky: The Book

June 30, 2021
Jun 30, 2021 Andy Lawrence This is a short promotional video for “Losing The Sky”, a short non-technical book about the threat to the sky from satellite mega-constellations. You can find the book at Amazon, Apple Books, and Google Play Books. To see a bit more about what the book is all about, go to...
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23
May

Satellite mega-constellations create risks in Low Earth Orbit, the atmosphere and on Earth

May 23, 2021
Boley, A.C., Byers, M. Satellite mega-constellations create risks in Low Earth Orbit, the atmosphere and on Earth. Sci Rep 11, 10642 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89909-7 Abstract The rapid development of mega-constellations risks multiple tragedies of the commons, including tragedies to ground-based astronomy, Earth orbit, and Earth’s upper atmosphere. Moreover, the connections between the Earth and space environments are inadequately taken...
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14
Apr

Report on Mega-Constellations to the Government of Canada and the Canadian Space Agency

April 14, 2021
[Submitted on 12 Apr 2021] This document provides recommendations to the Government of Canada and the Canadian Space Agency in response to their call for feedback on the future of Canadian space exploration. The report focuses on how the construction and long-term placement of mega-constellations of satellites into Earth orbit will affect astronomy and the...
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