Plus: Breaking down India's Starlink controversy
By Dan Robitzski
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FROM SPACENEWS |
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Explore the themes connecting space unicorns: The number of private companies valued at $1 billion or more has rocketed as the maturing space industry draws deeper pools of capital from asset managers, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors. Read the latest SpaceNews Intelligence report to track where investors see the biggest opportunities. Download now. |
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As megaconstellations continue to proliferate into the hundreds of thousands of satellites in coming years, astronomers may find themselves backed into a corner as there are fewer and fewer "dark sky" sites to seek out. So, something else needs to be done, according to an opinion article by S. Alan Stern, a planetary scientist, astronaut and former member of the U.S. National Science Board.
He advocated for a new wave of off-world astronomy, and specifically called for funding it by imposing taxes on megaconstellation operators in an attempt to offset the damage their light pollution would cause.
"Let us, as both astronomers and members of the public, not try to stop the inevitable proliferation of satellite constellations," he wrote. "Instead, let’s work to find a new astronomical prosperity in that proliferation, by once again moving astronomy’s major ground-based research facilities to dark sky locales in space, paid for with a tiny fraction of the revenues the new satellite constellations will earn."
Read the full SpaceNews commentary here |
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A picture of India at night taken from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
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Earlier this month, Elon Musk complained about "certain oligarchs" keeping Starlink out of India. In reality, multiple satellite operators are under the same stage of slow-moving review in India. But the real question is not what's preventing Starlink access but how much benefit satellite service would actually offer to the country, according to an opinion article by policy analyst Meda Parameswara Reddy.
Ultimately, satellite broadband would only benefit a small portion of India's population, Reddy argued, with steep costs and security concerns making it irrelevant in areas with terrestrial connectivity. To implement satellite connectivity in remote areas, though, India's leadership should argue for strict security controls and prioritize public institutions over individual plans, according to Reddy.
"Indians who lived through the 1980s remember when a telephone line meant years on a waiting list. That scarcity was dressed up as prudence, but it was mostly delay, and India escaped it by letting new players in under firm rules. Satellite internet deserves the same: firm rules, a clock and a verdict. Musk should stop blaming oligarchs, and New Delhi should stop treating patience as policy. The billionaires can afford to wait. The villages at the end of the line cannot."
Read the full SpaceNews commentary here
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FROM SPACENEWS |
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