Astronomers Say Starlink, Amazon Light Pollution Keeps Getting Worse

For years, scientific researchers have warned that Elon Musk's Starlink low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband constellations areharming scientific research. Simply put, the light pollution Musk claimedwould never happen in the first placeis making it far more difficult to study the night sky, a problem researchers say can bemitigated somewhat but never fully eliminated.

Now with Amazon joining the low Earth orbit satellite race, scientists are increasingly warning that the problem is getting worse, making night sky research more difficult than ever:

A studypublished in the journal Naturethis week shows that a prototype of AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird swarm has become one of the brightest objects in the heavens. Anotherstudydocuments how even deliberately darkened satellites are still twice as bright-if not more-than the limit astronomers have called for to minimize effects on space science."

At a conference last week organized by the International Astronomical Union'sCentre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS), scientists noted that even with active efforts to darken and reduce satellite reflections, such satellites are still more than twice as bright as the limit astronomers have recommended to curb such pollution.

Some astronomers have developed systems to track the thousands of LEO satellites being sent into orbit, but those solutions are costly and don't scale particularly well. Worried that they'll hamper innovation, regulators had largely been a no-shows on crafting meaningful guidelines; most of what they've developed so far has been voluntary.

Then there's the question of: is this harm to scientific research actually worth it? It's great to be able to get gigabit broadband on the back of your RV in the middle of nowhere, but capacity constraints and the laws of physics mean that, unlike fiber or even 5G wireless, such systems will always have some notable capacity limitations (Starlink speeds have consistently dropped as capacity shrinks under load).

Starlink currently has 1.5 million global users, when somewhere around 20-30 million Americans lack access to broadband, and another 83 million live under monopoly. Given the high price of service (up to $120 a month and a $600 up front hardware charge) such services also don't address broadband affordability issues. LEO satellites aren't truly fixing the underlying problem anytime soon.

Ultimately there's supposed to be tens of thousands of such smaller satellites peppering the night sky. And while it will ensure you can get a decent broadband signal in the middle of nowhere (if you can afford it and can navigate the year-plus waiting list), there's a steep scientific cost we're not doing a particularly good job preparing for.