Astronomers Declare War on Satellites: International Center Established

The satellites that we put in our orbit, which are the building blocks of communication today, have become a large crowd in orbit with the ever-increasing need and new projects. So much so that the number of satellites active in orbit has doubled since 2019, from 2,200 to 5,000. While SpaceX’s Starlink project played a big role in the number of satellites, this project brought many discussions with it.

SpaceX plans to place a total of 42 thousand satellites in low orbit within the scope of the Starlink project, which it started with the aim of offering cheap and fast internet to the whole world. The company has already deployed 2,000 of these satellites. On the other hand, in addition to SpaceX, projects such as OneWeb and Project Kuiper show that the number of satellites will increase. But the increasing number of satellites brings with it a great challenge for astronomers. That’s why a brand new center was established last week by the International Astronomical Union (UAU).

The war against the satellites begins:

• This is how the traces left behind by Starlink satellites can be reflected in observations.

Complaining that satellites disrupt observations from the ground due to reflective light streaks, astronomers opened the IAU Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from the Satellite Constellation Initiative. The center will be able to coordinate international interventions and aim to provide a strong voice for the astronomy community.

Talking about the importance of the center, Alice Gorman explained that they are facing a battle between commercial satellite operators and astronomers, and that it is expected to have 100,000 new satellites in orbit by the end of the next decade alone. Astronomer Alan Duffy, on the other hand, stated in his statement that microwave radio telescopes will no longer work when all of the Starlink satellites are sent into space.