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Elon Musk has hit back at claims that he is taking up too much extraterrestrial real estate with his Starlink satellite mega-constellations. Having already launched just under 1,900 satellites and with plans to deploy thousands more, Musk says that there is still ample room for competitors in low-Earth orbit (LEO).
Speaking to the Financial Times, the SpaceX and Tesla owner insisted that “space is just extremely enormous, and satellites are very tiny,” while comparing the impact of his Starlink fleet to “a couple of thousand cars on Earth.” In spite of these reassurances, the scale of Musk’s activities in orbit has attracted a significant degree of criticism.
His recent comments came in response to concerns that were raised earlier this month by Josef Aschbacher, the director general of the European Space Agency (ESA). Referencing Starlink, Mr Aschbacher explained that Musk now owns “half of the active satellites in the world”, and that as a result of this dominance, “he is making the rules” in LEO.
Starlink is a constellation of Internet satellites that aims to provide global coverage, and has already gained approval from US regulators to launch 30,000 units in the coming years. However, Luxembourg’s economy minister Franz Fayot recently chastised Musk for “just launching constellations and satellites and throwing Teslas up into orbit,” while likening his actions to “colonization” in space.
Refuting these allegations, the tech entrepreneur said that his satellites have “not blocked anyone from doing anything,” and that there is still room for “tens of billions” of other objects in orbits close to Earth.
Such assertions are not universally accepted, however, and a number of scientists have expressed concern about overcrowding in space. Earlier this year, for instance, data from the Socrates (Satellite Orbital Conjunction Reports Assessing Threatening Encounters in Space) database revealed that close encounters in space – defined as situations in which spacecraft pass within 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) of each other – are becoming increasingly common, and that Starlink is largely to blame.
According to the data, Musk’s satellites are now involved in around 1,600 close encounters every week, which constitutes roughly half of all near-misses. In a recent complaint to the United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, China claimed that its Tiangong space station was forced to take evasive action twice this year in order to avoid colliding with Starlink satellites.
In spite of these concerns, numerous nations and private companies are continuing with plans to launch more objects, and the Satellite Industry Association estimates that there could be up to 107,671 items in orbit by the end of this decade.
