The timing of the Financial Times is almost perfect. The British newspaper published an interview with Elon Musk on the congestion of low Earth orbit by Space X, just after the revelation of a complaint by China to the UN for having had to avoid Starlink satellites.
Elon Musk responds to ESA
In this article, probably based on an interview prior to the publication of the Chinese process, Elon Musk responds to another criticism, coming from Josef Aschbache, director general of ESA, the European space agency. Still in the Financial Times, the latter had denounced the haste of Space X to launch its Starlink constellation in early December.
Apple sanctions the assembler of its iPhones, neglecting its staff
He regretted that Space X “ made the rules In terms of space in recent years. According to him, the many Starlink satellites are reducing the number of radio frequencies and orbital slots available.
Space X has sent approximately 1,900 satellites and has US clearance to ship 12,000 altogether. Elon Musk hopes to eventually reach 42,000 aircraft in orbit. For Josef Aschbacche, concerted international action on the flagship company of New Space is necessary before space congestion becomes unmanageable.
Elon Musk answered him with a certain levity. The richest man on the planet replied that ” Space is just extremely huge, and the satellites are very small “. He disputes that Space X is blocking other players in the space adventure in any way.
Do satellites even fight as cars? Truly ?
Also founder of Tesla, Elon Musk took as a reference the 2 billion vehicles circulating on Earth, ” A few thousand satellites is nothing. It’s like, “hey, here are a few thousand cars on earth” it’s nothing “.
Problem, the space is not a highway where the two white bands of road safety are sufficient as a safety distance in case of unforeseen circumstances. Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian, told the Financial Times that a satellite is traveling at 27,000 km / h. Consequently, ” For many space users, planning an avoidance maneuver takes at least hours, if not days, which suggests that the space is already too crowded. “.
The situation is not going to improve. Beyond Space X, a pioneer therefore necessarily singled out, constellation projects to provide the Internet to the whole world are multiplying.
International consultation is required on space congestion
OneWeb, supported by the United Kingdom, French Eutelsat and an Indian group led by Sunil Mittal, is already sending its 650 devices. Amazon must implement Kuiper. China and the European Union are also considering launching their own constellation.
Space is vast and space is certainly not lacking, but the lack of international coordination on the management of satellite traffic creates congestion, aggravated by the proliferation of space debris. In order for everyone to have their own constellation, we will have to go through consultation.