Astronomers check their remote telescope in Chile and instead of stars they see satellites.
Image: https://phys.org/news/2018-11-space-debris-cleanup-national-threat.html
There are 3,000 active satellites around Earth today, and SpaceX has indicated a goal of 40,000 more space satellites in the future. The problem? Satellites are reflective, and astronomers around the globe report a hindering of their space observation by these shiny pieces of metal put up by private companies, including SpaceX, OneWeb, and Amazon.
Though this is just one of many issues in such an unregulated environment: Yes, satellites block telescopes, space junk floats in our galaxy, commercialized space travel release heavy emissions. So, who says no?
There is a regulation “up there” known as Space Law. (Fun Fact, any word preceded by space sounds 10 times cooler by default [ex. Space dog, Space Napkins, etc.]). Though this hasn’t prevented the approval of the upcoming departure of 40,000 satellites. Because of this, many are concerned that the legislative body is ineffective. The wide pollution of space and it clashes with the field of astronomers indicate that perhaps governments are not having enough of a say.
So if not them, who will legislate space? It seems that if we won’t rule it, companies will.
Ps. Thank you Chance for the blog post idea