People & Power investigates the new satellite space race and its implications for the future.
Space may be infinite, but the Earth’s orbit is not. Since 2019, the number of satellites orbiting the planet has more than doubled. Companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink, OneWeb, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, and even entities as large as the European Union Space Agency (EUSPA) have launched thousands of satellites in hopes of gaining an edge in the lucrative space market. orbital around the world. Land.
The commercial possibilities of space offer the potential to empower the approximately three billion people who currently lack broadband Internet and provide an invaluable tool for researchers. But there is a potential danger implicit in the promise. Expanded Internet access increases the surveillance capabilities of government and private entities. The military use of satellites has already caused saber rattling among world powers. Light reflected from satellites could change the way we see stars in the night sky. And each new satellite increases the possibility of a disastrous collision that could set off a chain of events that could render Earth’s orbit unusable.
