- A report suggests that Starlinks leaving orbit will likely kill someone by 2035
- The FAA claims that Starlinks will make up the majority of satellites in orbit by then
- READ MORE: Elon’s new Starlink satellites fall from the sky and burn up
A new report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warns that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites could kill or seriously injure someone by 2035.
The regulators published a 35-page analysis predicting that 28,000 dangerous fragments from deorbiting satellites could survive reentry over the next 12 years.
Musk plans to have at least 42,000 Starlinks in orbit in the coming years — the most of any company.
SpaceX’s Starlinks would According to the report, they represent more than 85 percent of the expected risk to people on the ground and in aviation from falling debris in the time frame.
Musk’s SpaceX is not taking the allegations lightly – the company’s chief engineer called for an analysis in a letter to the FAA and Congress as ridiculous, unwarranted and inaccurate.
A new report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warns that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites could kill or seriously injure someone by 2035
SpaceX chief engineer David Goldstein said report was based on ‘very flawed analysis’ CNN.
“To be clear, SpaceX’s satellites are designed and built to disappear completely during re-entry into the atmosphere during end-of-life disposal, and they do,” the letter reads.
The company also criticized the Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit that collected the data, for not contacting SpaceX for more information.
The letter also states that 325 Starlink satellites have been decommissioned since February 2020 and that no debris has been found.
The Aerospace Corporation issued a statement Tuesday saying it approached SpaceX two years ago “to conduct an independent assessment of the collective risks associated with satellite reentry, based on the projection of all planned operators under US regulations in 2021.
“The data includes existing and planned constellations through 2035. The largest percentage of satellites were in low Earth orbit.”
Musk’s SpaceX is not taking the allegations lightly – the company’s chief engineer called for an analysis in a letter to the FAA and Congress as ridiculous, unwarranted and inaccurate.
In addition to possible human casualties, the report states that air travel could also be threatened by falling space debris.
“The probability of an aircraft crash (defined in the Aerospace report as a collision with a downing object) in 2035 would be 0.0007 per year,” the document reads.
SpaceX launched Starlink satellites in May 2019, sending more than 5,000 mass-produced objects into space.
The company announced that it had reached more than 2 million subscribers by September 2023 and plans to deploy 12,000 satellites – a target that could be increased to 42,000.
The SpaceX Starlink is a low-orbit satellite that provides the internet with unlimited data and high broadband speeds.
The satellites offer users fixed or portable internet options at a hefty price.
Internet provider T-Mobile offers broadband for $50 per month with no installation fees – while Starlink charges up to $2,500 for installation and can cost users up to $250 per month.
New research has shown that low-frequency radio waves – like those produced by Musk’s machines – are leaking into the air, making it difficult for scientists to make astronomical observations.
Scientists are also concerned that Musk’s ‘space junk’ could cause an extreme collision.
The ‘Kessler syndrome’ – proposed by NASA scientist Donald Kessler in 1978 – said that if there is too much space junk in Earth’s orbit, the objects could collide and form MORE space junk. This would cause the Earth’s orbit to become unstable.
