EARLY LAST SPRING SpaceX launched a
“constellation” of 60 Starlink satellites – the start
of a program that will put nearly 1800 new satellites
in orbit by the end of 2020, with as many as 40,000
to follow. In the days after the launch, the satellites
deployed into a string of bright dots moving in
tandem across the sky. “They looked absolutely
surreal,” says Chris Johnson, space law advisor to
the Secure World Foundation, which is dedicated to
promoting sustainable uses of outer space. “People
thought it was an alien invasion [or] a missile launch.”
It was also a wake-up call about the increasing
cloud of satellites watching our every move.
Not that most of these satellites are specifically
designed to spy on us. The Starlink program is
intended to provide space-based internet service to
the entire planet, thereby ending the divide between
internet “haves” and “have-nots” and promoting a
more equal-opportunity future.Other satellites provide telecommunications and
the GPS signals we routinely use when we ask our
cars or phones to give us directions.
Space-based cameras and other Earth-
studying sensors also play important roles
in making sure other aspects of modern life
run smoothly: “everything from weather
monitoring to tracking ships at sea”, Johnson
says. They can also help stave off public
health risks, by spotting places where
conditions are ripe for the proliferation
of mosquitos and the spread of West
Nile virus, malaria, Zika virus, or
chikungunya fever, for example,
or by helping direct emergency
responders after an earthquake or
typhoon.
According to Johnson, it’s
even possible to track theENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
Issue 86 COSMOS – 45SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY