"For the second time in three months, a #SpaceX satellite has failed and broken up over Earth, highlighting concerns over the company’s plan to increase its network to more than a million satellites. ... The mishap comes as critics blast SpaceX’s plan to create a new constellation of up to a million satellites to be used as space-based data centers.'"
Space Environmentalism
@space_environmentalism
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The Center for Space Environmentalism (CSE) increases awareness and understanding of space environmentalism issues and helps stakeholders make better decisions about them by pursuing research, education, outreach and advocacy. https://www.spaceenvironmentalism.org #Space #SpaceEnvironment #SpaceEnvironmentalism
"The surge in orbital activity has created a significant collision risk. ... The big fear is that future collisions will cause a domino effect where Earth’s orbit becomes cluttered with tiny, high-speed bits of metal. That could create a near-impenetrable layer of debris that would make space launches so dangerous it would essentially trap humans on Earth."
Today CSE filed our Reply Comment with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission challenging Reflect Orbital's application to commercialize the night sky. We maintain that the FCC must uphold legal mandates by requiring a comprehensive environmental review before granting any authority that alters our shared nighttime environment.
Read our full filing here: https://www.spaceenvironmentalism.org/actions/public-statements-and-comments/reflect-orbital-reply-comment-2026
"NASA pulled off the #moon landing in 1969 with a clear goal from the outset: to be the first nation to put boots on the lunar surface. Now, #NASA is heading back with its #Artemis program. But why spend nearly $100 billion to repeat a journey NASA has already made? The goal of Artemis is less obvious than that of Apollo — so much so that the justification for NASA’s lunar return largely depends on who is answering the question."
"A dramatic rise in the number of satellites on orbit is increasing the amount of space debris, posing a critical threat to the capabilities of America’s national space systems, Maj. Gen. Chris Povak, deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, said Monday. 'The future gets more complex, not less. More satellites, more debris, more competition,' he said."
"An array of man-made #satellites beam sunlight down to Earth. An artificial constellation of thousands of satellites illuminates the night sky. These scenarios might sound like science fiction. But between SpaceX’s plans to launch 1 million satellites as part of its satellite-based internet network #Starlink, and Reflect Orbital’s sunlight reflecting space mirrors, private companies could change the way our night sky looks."
https://news.northeastern.edu/2026/03/24/space-mirrors-satellites-sunlight-earth/
Thanks to Leonard David for covering our recent comments to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on SpaceX's 1 million orbital data centers and Reflect Orbital's "sunlight as a service" #satellite applications.
CSE's John Barentine: "The presumption now is that the application should be approved and that it should be up to the people who might object to prove that there's a problem of some kind. The fact that they have fast-tracked this application, which has potentially tremendous effects not only for astronomy but for the environment too, and to do so without engaging in a full environmental review, is worrisome."
"Cyber security researchers are already using #AI to identify so-called zero-day vulnerabilities — yet undiscovered security holes in code — to alert operators and help them patch the problems before hackers could exploit them. But attackers, too, can take advantage of those advanced systems to find those holes more quickly."
"As of today, more than 10,000 active #Starlink #satellites are in #space, constituting about two thirds of all satellites that are currently in orbit. That’s a number that would have seemed unbelievable just a decade ago. 'Starlink has changed our relationship with space,' says Hugh Lewis, a space debris expert at the University of Birmingham in England. 'The character of the night sky is no longer the same as it once was, and I’m not sure it will ever be again.'"
