BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
Ever since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, we have had artificial satellites orbiting the Earth, some in Low Earth Orbit are visible to the naked eye and can be easily seen with binoculars and telescopes. As the ‘space race’ fuelled by the ‘Cold War’ heated up, more and more satellites were launched, some for military purposes and national security organisations, but as time went on also for worthy scientific research, telecommunications and Earth observation programmes.

By the end of the 20th Century about 750 satellites were in orbit, only a few of these were visible from the Earth and those that were, were considered ‘entertaining’ to observe! By 2010 over a thousand ‘active’ satellites were in orbit (many more defunct satellites and other objects and ‘junk’ is still there!), this was followed by a huge expansion of launching of satellites with nearly 4,000 active satellites in orbit by 2020. Alarmingly, 2021 has seen this number almost double, rising to just under 7,000! Disturbingly, since 2018 we have seen the birth of the commercial concept of ‘megaconstellations’ of broadband satellites that are now regularly being launched by commercial mega-corporates who already have licences for 30,000 satellites in Low Earth Orbit! It is estimated that by 2030 we could have more than 100,000+ satellites most of them in Low Earth Orbit and constantly visible to the naked eye in the night sky.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ASTRONOMY?

For astronomers, both professional and amateur, this issue is a major problem. Important research is interrupted, sometimes curtailed completely when a satellite passes into a telescope’s ‘field of view’, some sensitive and expensive equipment will not be able to work correctly or even become unusable for that session. Satellite interference can lead to corruption of observation data and even lead to misleading research outcomes. Astronomy is the oldest and noblest of the sciences and the majority of it is still done from ground based observatories in very ‘dark sky’ areas of the world. However, orbiting satellites ‘move’ over the skies of EVERY part of the globe and so there is no escape from light and radio interference! The latest broadband satellites the are being launched in these so-called ‘megaconstellations’ formations and they also constantly emit radio-waves that interfere with radio-astronomy that is not deliberate but is the nature of radio spectrum physics and engineering. Only for Radio Astronomers this problem happens at ALL times, 24 hours, day and night, 365 days a year!

WHAT ABOUT OTHER PARTS OF OUR COMMUNITY?

Other parts of our global community are also waking up to this unjustified intrusion, some minority ethnic and religious communities use the stars at night as part of their belief system. For them, the constant intrusion over ‘their’ night sky is an affront to their beliefs and cultural practices. Recent research has also found that constant movement of bright satellites also interferes with various species of wild-life that affects navigation and even breading patterns.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

The environment will also be impacted. Recent research pointing to the practice of de-orbiting’ of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites ‘seeding’ the upper atmosphere with aluminium particulates. These particulate are formed from burned-up satellites on re-entry leading to a heat reflective layer adding to global warming. Megaconstellations will add hugely to this problem as most of these type of satellite will have a 5 to 10 year life before they are de-orbited and replaced by new satellite(s) being subsequently launched. Looking at some current corporate plans, this will mean that at least 100,000 satellites will burn-up in the atmosphere every 5 to 10 years and then repeatedly so!

Because of the huge numbers of LEO satellites there is also the dangerously increased numbers of collisions in space. Each very high-speed collision’ will result in very high-speed particles (resulting in multiples of thousands of particles for each!) continuing in orbit (they don’t just fall out of the sky!) almost certainly causing further collisions in a cascade that would result in a lethal zone or band around the Earth that would block further access to space for decades to come. This scenario is called the Kessler Syndrome. It is thought that currently, legal liability will NOT apply to any company that is responsible if the original ‘launching’ nation decides against it!

SUPPORT US
Our primary objective is to mitigate the negative effects of satellite light pollution, this can be done by lobbying those in power and others (governments, regulators, non-governmental organisations, movements, media and individuals) around the world to protect the RIGHTS of EVERYONE, not just a select few who feel they can exploit commercially the global commonwealth, that is the NIGHT SKY! We also have secondary objectives that you will find elsewhere on this site… do what you can to support these if you agree with them?However, please do consider joining us in whatever way you can… please do feel free to contact us and offer your encouragement and support as you see fit!

Thank You!
AASLP