Elon Musk's ambition to put as many as one million satellites into orbitis facing a fresh warning after astronomer Phil Plait argued that the proposal could set off catastrophic collisions in space, with debris severe enough to cripple vital services on Earth and make future launches far harder.
The concern centres on plans linked to SpaceX's proposed orbital data centres, which Musk says are needed to meet the voracious demands of artificial intelligence.
The alarm was raised afterSpaceX filed a request to launch a vast fleet of solar-powered satellitesthat would act as data centres in orbit rather than on the ground. Musk's camp has framed the idea as a leap towards a 'Kardashev II-level civilisation,' while critics have looked at the same numbers and seen something much less grand, a crowded sky edging towards a problem no one can easily reverse.
ELON MUSK: "Our progress toward a Kardashev two-scale civilization… a reasonable goal would be to try to get to a millionth [of the Sun's energy]."pic.twitter.com/H0uxjBYTbQ
The proposal lands at a moment when low-Earth orbit is already busy. The report says there are about 15,000 satellites currently circling the planet, and that total could rise dramatically if SpaceX presses ahead andChina's separate plan for a 200,000-strong fleetalso moves forward. Nothing like the nightmare scenario described by critics has happened here, and the gravest outcomes remain warnings rather than established fact, but the scale alone is what has sharpened nerves.
BREAKING: SpaceX wants to turn Space into the World’s Biggest AI Data Center.• SpaceX is seeking approval to launch and operate up to one million satellites designed to function as orbital data centers.• These satellites would provide massive computing power to support…pic.twitter.com/ez4yBVKXhH
Writing inScientific American, Plait said the existing number of satellites above Earth is already enormous and that the quantity now being proposed would make avoiding collisions a far greater challenge. That matters because objects in orbit do not drift around gently. They tear through space at around 17,000 mph, which means even one direct impact can be enough to create a spreading cloud of wreckage.
Amazon claims it would take “centuries” to deploy this 1M constellation. For context, we’ve spent months diving into physics backed estimates for what these sats will probably look like.All that work culminated in this article:https://t.co/jmjQ3H0GRgElon has indicated…https://t.co/LiBZWtwBZM
Plait's warning turns on what scientists call Kessler syndrome, the idea that one collision can create debris that strikes other satellites, producing still more debris in a violent cascade. It is the sort of theory that sounds abstract until you picture what it would mean in practice. GPS, internet links and mobile communications could be hit. Rocket launches could become vastly more dangerous. In the bleakest version of the scenario, humanity would not be marooned by a war or a plague, but by its own shrapnel.
He did not stop at the mechanics of collisions. Plait also argued that the night sky itself is being treated far too casually. In his view, it is not simply a commercial zone waiting to be monetised by whoever has the rockets and the money. He wrote that 'Our night sky—and it is ours—is a natural wonder, a cosmic park we need to preserve, not exploit with a laissez-faire attitude. This careless exploitation of the heavens above is a real danger to us all.'
Source: International Business Times UK
