{"id":3313,"date":"2026-07-02T18:39:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T18:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=3313"},"modified":"2026-07-02T18:39:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T18:39:42","slug":"astronomers-sound-the-alarm-over-elon-musks-satellite-plan-damaging-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=3313","title":{"rendered":"Astronomers sound the alarm over Elon Musk’s satellite plan: ‘Damaging consequences’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

European astronomers on Wednesday urged the US Federal Communications Commission to block a plan led by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to launch a total of 1.7 million satellites into the Earth\u2019s orbit, warning that the use of so many extremely bright satellites\u2014partially to support artificial intelligence data centers\u2014would have \u201cdevastating consequences for astronomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more MAGA flies into rage over air conditioners: \u2018Democrats are coming for your AC!\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

SpaceX\u2019s Starlink telecommunications program has already rapidly increased the number of satellites orbiting the Earth, with the total now exceeding 14,000 since 2019.<\/p>\n

Now the space exploration company led by Musk\u2014a former special government employee under the Trump administration\u2014has plans to send 1 million more satellites into space, which would \u201csignificantly alter the appearance of the sky,\u201d according to a new study by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).<\/p>\n

Scientists found that 100,000 is the maximum number of satellites\u2014ones that are faint enough to be invisible to the naked eye\u2014that can orbit the Earth in order to allow astronomers to continue observing the sky with modern telescopes.<\/p>\n

In addition to Musk\u2019s launches, the US startup Reflect Orbital has proposed launching a constellation of 50,000 \u201cvery large mirror-like satellites to provide sunlight at night,\u201d said ESO.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese satellites would be the brightest ever in orbit, with damaging consequences for dark skies on Earth,\u201d said the observatory. \u201cSeen from within a reflected beam, the satellite delivering sunlight would appear four times brighter than the full Moon. Even if no satellite points its beam directly at an observer, each would be as bright as the planet Venus, the \u2018morning star.\u2019 From a light-polluted city, like Munich, Germany, these hundreds of satellites would be the only \u2018stars\u2019 visible in the night sky.\u201d<\/p>\n