Blue Origin, Google, Cowboy Space and others have all said they plan to build orbital data centers, which would likely consist of hundreds of thousands of satellites.
SpaceX says its “Starmind” orbital data center would have over a million satellites.
But satellites involved in orbital data centers would be much larger.
SpaceX said in public filings that the satellites involved in its orbital data center would be up to 1,500 square meters.
Cowboy Space said its satellites would be 4,800 square meters, close to the size of a football field.
On the top of a mountain in the Chilean desert, an $800 million U.S.-taxpayer-funded telescope just opened its eye.
The brand-new Vera C. Rubin Observatory is supposed to complete a groundbreaking “survey” of the universe, the most comprehensive catalog of its galaxies, asteroids, supernovas and black holes ever completed. But Rubin’s scientists have encountered a problem. Fast-moving, light-reflecting satellites are leaving white streaks across their photographs.
The proliferation of satellites is an “existential threat” to the observatory’s work, said J. Anthony Tyson, its chief scientist, who is best known for mapping dark matter.
Tyson and other scientists warn that these orbiting machines will make it increasingly difficult to do astronomical research from Earth—and, eventually, will render the night sky unrecognizable.
Currently, there are more than 17,000 active satellites in orbit, compared with around 1,000 a decade ago, said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist who has cataloged every orbital rocket launch since 1957. A decade from now, he estimates, there will probably be over 100,000.
Satellites reflect sunlight back to Earth. As the number of satellites grows, so too will light pollution from space.
“You’d see twice as many stars in the sky,” said Hanno Rein, an associate professor at the University of Toronto who has modeled light pollution from planned satellite constellations. “But only half of them would be real.” The other half would actually be satellites transiting the sky.
Currently, satellites are mainly used for telecommunications. The majority are owned by Starlink, which provides internet connectivity around the world.
In the future, as it becomes cheaper to launch material into space, more companies and governments will launch their own satellites. Blue Origin, Google, Cowboy Space and others have all said they plan to build orbital data centers, which would likely consist of hundreds of thousands of satellites. SpaceX says its “Starmind” orbital data center would have over a million satellites.
Satellites now aren’t very large. Starlink’s satellites are about four square meters in size, roughly equivalent to a king bed. But satellites involved in orbital data centers would be much larger. SpaceX said in public filings that the satellites involved in its orbital data center would be up to 1,500 square meters. Cowboy Space said its satellites would be 4,800 square meters, close to the size of a football field.
SpaceX has voluntarily mitigated the brightness of its Starlink satellites, Tyson said. He has been discussing brightness mitigation with SpaceX staffers for almost a decade. Another Rubin scientist said it has had “positive dialogues” with a half-dozen other satellite companies.
