SpaceX Aims to Launch 1 Million AI Data Center SatellitesTo imagine a single orbital data center, start with a low-Earth orbit communications satellite. Move it up to a higher orbit of 1,000 kilometers to put it in a Sun-synchronous orbit that allows continuous access to solar energy. Increase the size of its solar panels and add computers and heavy radiators for cooling. That high orbit is good for powering computers, but it’s bad if you care about dark skies and stargazing. Astronomer John Barentine (Dark Sky Consulting) says that these orbital data centers “would be visible probably all night long over much of the Earth over much of the year.”
Right now, there’s not enough technical detail available to calculate exactly how bright they would be, Barentine adds. But simulations based on the data have alarmed him. “It is so potentially transformational to the night sky that I think it would really endanger the hobby [of stargazing]," he says. The science of astronomy would become far more difficult, too, with increased visual and radio interference from so many satellites.
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Billionaires want data centers everywhere, including spaceSpace data centers also have to contend with the uniquely extraterrestrial problem of getting rid of heat in a vacuum. But infrared radiation also has the potential to interfere with telescopes, according to John Barentine of the advocacy group the Center for Space Environmentalism. The group has not come out for or against space data centers, Barentine said, but they are concerned about the impact of potential light pollution from reflective surfaces on the spacecraft on astronomy research. Space companies often classify those spacecraft details as “trade secrets,” leading to a “chicken-and-egg situation right now,” Barentine said. “We can’t really say with a lot of certainty what the impacts will be because we don’t know the details because the companies haven’t or won’t disclose them.”
Planned satellite launches could ruin Hubble Space Telescope imagesThe team found that if 560,000 satellites are launched as planned, there could be an average of two satellite trails for each Hubble photo and around 90 for each Xuntian photo, due to its larger field of view and orbital height.
They checked their simulations by predicting that with current satellite numbers, 4 per cent of Hubble images are affected by satellite trails, and this matched with an analysis of real images. These predictions could come true if the planned satellite launches go ahead, says John Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting, a company based in Tucson, Arizona, but it’s unclear how many satellites will really be launched. “Many experts feel that the number of satellites that will actually orbit the Earth within about the next 15 years will reach a steady-state value of something more like 50,000 to 100,000.” If the actual number of satellites is only a tenth of what is planned, then the consequences for space telescopes will be much less severe, says Barentine. “The number of trails per image will be only a factor of a few higher than it is now for ARRAKHIS and Xuntian and virtually unchanged for SPHEREx and HST.” Seeking Profits, Private Companies Look to Light up the Night SkyIf the company’s plans come to fruition, following its tests next year it will begin launching more mirror-toting satellites, ultimately building a mega constellation of 4,000 by 2030. Each would be capable of casting a 5 km-wide beam about four times brighter than the full moon down to Earth. But atmospheric scattering would ensure that some light escapes each beam, says John Barentine, a Tucson, Ariz.–based astronomer and executive officer of Dark Sky Consulting, which advises companies and city officials on outdoor lighting use. “We’ve calculated that, even relatively far from the beam, the [satellites] would still have an apparent brightness that would make them among the brightest objects in the night sky,” he says.
Giant mirrors in space to reflect sunlight at night? No thank you, astronomers sayJohn Barentine, founder of Dark Sky Consulting, said there's a lot that's unknown about Reflect Orbital's technical details. However, he added, information the company has disclosed suggests it will have unintended consequences.
"These objects will appear like very bright stars in the sky moving slowly as seen from potentially hundreds of miles or kilometres away from the spot on the ground where the light appears," he said. "It's happening at a time when the world is dark. The expectation of [animal] biology is that the conditions will be dark around them. I worry a bit that if you are, say, a migratory bird — who we now know are navigating by the stars at some level — that this could be very disorienting." Darkness is crucial to Everglades habitat. Could Alligator Alcatraz threaten it?John Barentine, who oversaw the dark sky program when Big Cypress was being considered, said the airport’s current use, with lighting surrounding the detention facility, would have likely disqualified the preserve from being named a dark sky park.
“It would’ve been a problem,” Barentine said. He compared the situation to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. When that park applied to be named a dark sky park, lighting from a Job Corps center drew out the process for years. |
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