Internet for all? The painfully high costs of megaconstellations for astronomy, the atmosphere, and the future of LEO

Several companies are now launching megaconstellations of thousands of communication satellites, with plans to increase up to one million satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in the next decade. SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation has launched almost 6,000 satellites in the last four and half years, and now owns and operates the majority of all satellites in orbit. While these satellites do offer more internet options for underserved rural and remote locations, the costs are prohibitively high for all but the most well-off customers. These satellites reflect sunlight long after sunset, and are visible as moving stars in the night sky, increasingly disrupting stargazing and astronomical research worldwide. Simulations show that because of geometry and the chosen satellite orbits, latitudes near 50° N and S will see the worst light pollution, with hundreds of naked-eye visible satellites all night long in the summer. Megaconstellations also produce dangerous atmospheric pollution on launch and re-entry, increase casualty risk on the ground from re-entries, and each launch puts us closer to the runaway collisional cascade known as the Kessler Syndrome. I’ll discuss what you can do to fight for regulation and safe use of satellites in orbit.