Individuals & Energy investigates the brand new satellite tv for pc area race and its implications for the longer term.
Area could also be infinite, however the Earth’s orbit is just not. Since 2019, the variety of satellites circling the planet has greater than doubled. Corporations like Elon Musk’s Starlink, OneWeb, Amazon’s Challenge Kuiper, and even entities as massive because the European Union Company for the Area Programme (EUSPA) have launched 1000’s of satellites in hopes of gaining an higher hand within the profitable market of orbital area across the Earth.
The industrial prospects of area provide the potential to empower the roughly three billion people who find themselves at the moment with out broadband web and supply a useful device for researchers. However there may be potential peril embedded within the promise. Expanded web entry will increase the surveillance capabilities of presidency and personal entities. The navy use of satellites has already resulted in sabre-rattling between world powers. Mirrored mild from satellites may change the best way we see the celebrities within the evening sky. And each new satellite tv for pc will increase the prospect of a disastrous collision which may set off a series of occasions that might render the Earth’s orbit unusable.