Astronomers and space researchers have expressed concern about the fact that there is no real space regulation of the growing space activity. Not only does this make searching difficult, but it can also disrupt satellite, communications and ground-based navigation systems. The research has shown for the first time that Elon Musk’s SpaceX division’s Starlink communications constellation is interfering with their work.
They fly with good intentions
In the Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics published In the study, we can read that scientists observed the 68 SpaceX satellites and found that their radiation spread in all directions in space. The Starlink satellite project was launched by Elon Musk for the purpose of serving the global internet. Internet service provided by satellites can be achieved in low or medium earth orbit for about 4 billion people, for whom this was not previously possible due to the lack of technical conditions. They now have more than 3,300 satellites in the sky.
Radiation should be monitored, says Federico Di Frono, co-director of the International Astronomical Union Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky (IAU’s Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky). As he said
The more satellites in the sky, and the more there are, the more likely it is that they will fall into the screen of the astrologer’s telescope.
According to international law expert Stephen Freeland, space will become increasingly crowded, especially at altitudes between 500 and 1,000 kilometers. Scientists fear that regulations can’t keep up with the record number of satellites being launched into space.
Astrophysicist Robin Cook takes pictures of deep space, but increased satellite activity is already hampering his work. As he joked,
You look into a high-powered telescope, spying on the farthest reaches of the universe, but suddenly they hit you in the face these things.
Uncontrollably
The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Observatory is an intergovernmental international radio telescope project, and its telescopes are being built in the Southern Hemisphere, in Australia and South Africa, because that’s where the best view of the Milky Way is. It is based at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in the United Kingdom. When the project is completed in this decade, the total catchment area will be approximately one square kilometer.
Thanks to its size, it will be 50 times more sensitive than any other radio device and will scan the sky more than ten thousand times faster than before, and by scanning no less than 3,000 kilometers across the sky, it will provide the highest image resolution in astronomy.
According to Di Vruno, although the radiation of Starlink satellites is not intentional, it must be regulated, but there is currently no way to do this, nothing controls it. If you think about it, whatever electrical equipment you buy is subject to rigorous testing, and they always check how much they interfere with each other, but satellite providers and satellite designers don’t really deal with this. On the other hand, SKAO entered the business and started negotiations with Starlink representatives to eliminate the problem.
