>US billionaire’s thousands of satellites risk crowding other operators out of low earth orbits
>
>The head of the European Space Agency has urged the continent’s leaders to stop facilitating Elon Musk’s ambition to dominate the new space economy, warning that the lack of co-ordinated action meant the US billionaire was “making the rules” himself.
>
>Josef Aschbacher, the new director-general of ESA, said that Europe’s readiness to help the rapid expansion of Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service risked hindering the region’s own companies from realising the potential of commercial space.
>
>“Space will be much more restrictive [in terms of] frequencies and orbital slots,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times. “The governments of Europe collectively should have an interest to . . . give European providers equal opportunities to play on a fair market.”
>
>Germany has recently applied to the International Telecommunications Union, which coordinates the use of wireless frequencies for carrying data, to grant Starlink spectrum for roughly 40,000 satellites. Musk has already won approval for more than 30,000 satellites through US regulators.
>
>Earlier this year, Musk said SpaceX, his private rocket company, was prepared to spend up to $30bn to expand Starlink.
>
>Aschbacher said Musk’s Starlink was already so big that it was difficult for regulators or rivals to catch up. “You have one person owning half of the active satellites in the world. That’s quite amazing. De facto, he is making the rules. The rest of the world including Europe . . . is just not responding quick enough.”
>
>Starlink and the UK government-backed OneWeb are leading a rush to create mega-constellations of hundreds and even thousands of satellites in low earth orbit, or LEO, to provide broadband to places hard to reach by cable.
>
>The Chinese government and Amazon’s Project Kuiper both plan to launch their own LEO constellations.
>
>A new generation of space companies, driven by falling launch costs and cheaper satellites, is also aiming to deliver commercial services from LEO such as earth observation.
>
>The rush to tap the potential of commercial space — made possible by falling launch costs and cheaper, smaller satellites — has fuelled concern over the absence of a global space traffic management system for low earth orbit, a region of up to 2000 kms above the earth where most new commercial services are targeted.
>
>Last year the Satellite Industry Association estimated there could be more than 100,000 commercial spacecraft in orbit by 2029.
>
>Aschbacher’s concerns were echoed by Franz Fayot, Luxembourg’s economy minister, who said new rules were needed to ensure the safe use of space.
>
>“You have people like Elon Musk, just launching constellations and satellites and throwingTeslas up into orbit. We need to set common rules. Colonisation, or just doing things in a completely deregulated space, is a concern” he said on the sidelines of the New Space conference in Luxembourg.
>
>Starlink did not respond to a request for comment.
>
>Europe’s satellite sector is dominated by traditional operators who rely on a much small number of expensive, high orbit satellites to provide services such as TV transmission.
>
>Although the ITU coordinates radio frequencies, there is no overarching international authority or regulator controlling the launch of satellites. One fear is that, as orbits become overcrowded, there is a growing risk of collisions which could generate catastrophic quantities of debris. Space junk is already a significant hazard.
>
>Steve Collar, chief executive of satellite operator SES, said the industry was “heading for a situation where there will be far too many satellites deployed. A lot of these plans . . . are in direct response to the fact that nobody is properly regulating.” Luxembourg owns a third of SES voting rights.
>
>Musk, in particular, has come under fire from astronomers and rivals for the pace of his expansion. Earlier this year his SpaceX rocket company was launching more than 100 satellites every month, with close to 2,000 currently in low earth orbit.
>
>Astronomers worry that huge numbers of satellites will interfere with ground-based telescopes and could “impact the appearance of the night sky for stargazers worldwide,” according to a report by the American Astronomical Society.
>
>Ralph Dinsley, founder of NORSS, which tracks objects in space, said the fact that Musk manufactured his own satellites and could launch them with his SpaceX rocket company meant he could move faster than rivals to occupy the most desirable orbital planes. “At the speed he is putting these into orbit, he is almost owning those orbital planes, because no one can get in there. He is creating a Musk sovereignty in space.”
>
>Aschbacher said it was clear that US regulators, as part of a national government, were “interested in developing not only the economy, but also certain dominance of certain economic sectors. This is happening . . . very, very, very, very clearly. And very strongly.”
Sour grapes. It is not like ESA has possibility to throw a bunch of LEO satellites on their own.
Besided, Sue Origin has already patented whining and complaining when not being able to compete.
The EU unfortunately are on a path of “EU” only, bit like “US Only” under trump. That means European cooperation is out of the window.
If European states want a European LEO constellation, do what the French have done and buy into OneWeb.
Article is behind a paywall now
The head of the European Space Agency has urged the continent’s leaders to stop facilitating Elon Musk’s ambition to dominate the new space economy, warning that the lack of co-ordinated action meant the US billionaire was “making the rules” himself.
Josef Aschbacher, the new director-general of ESA, said that Europe’s readiness to help the rapid expansion of Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service risked hindering the region’s own companies from realising the potential of commercial space.
“Space will be much more restrictive [in terms of] frequencies and orbital slots,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times. “The governments of Europe collectively should have an interest to . . . give European providers equal opportunities to play on a fair market.”
Germany has recently applied to the International Telecommunications Union, which co-ordinates the use of wireless frequencies for carrying data, to grant Starlink spectrum for about 40,000 satellites. Musk has already won approval for more than 30,000 satellites through US regulators.
Earlier this year, Musk said SpaceX, his private rocket company, was prepared to spend up to $30bn to expand Starlink.
Aschbacher said Musk’s Starlink was already so big that it was difficult for regulators or rivals to catch up. “You have one person owning half of the active satellites in the world. That’s quite amazing. De facto, he is making the rules. The rest of the world including Europe . . . is just not responding quick enough.”
Starlink and the UK government-backed OneWeb are leading a rush to create mega-constellations of hundreds and even thousands of satellites in low earth orbit, or LEO, to provide broadband to places hard to reach by cable.
The Chinese government and Amazon’s Project Kuiper both plan to launch their own LEO constellations.
A new generation of space companies, driven by falling launch costs and cheaper satellites, is also aiming to deliver commercial services from LEO such as earth observation.
The rush to tap the potential of commercial space — made possible by falling launch costs and cheaper, smaller satellites — has fuelled concern over the absence of a global space traffic management system for low earth orbit, a region of up to 2,000km above the earth where most new commercial services are targeted.
Last year the Satellite Industry Association estimated there could be more than 100,000 commercial spacecraft in orbit by 2029.
Aschbacher’s concerns were echoed by Franz Fayot, Luxembourg’s economy minister, who said new rules were needed to ensure the safe use of space.
“You have people like Elon Musk, just launching constellations and satellites and throwing Teslas up into orbit. We need to set common rules. Colonisation, or just doing things in a completely deregulated space, is a concern” he said on the sidelines of the New Space conference in Luxembourg.
Starlink did not respond to a request for comment.
Europe’s satellite sector is dominated by traditional operators who rely on a much small number of expensive, high orbit satellites to provide services such as television transmission.
Although the ITU co-ordinates radio frequencies, there is no overarching international authority or regulator controlling the launch of satellites. One fear is that, as orbits become overcrowded, there is a growing risk of collisions which could generate catastrophic quantities of debris. Space junk is already a significant hazard.
Recommended
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Russian satellite debris is a wake-up call for emerging space industry
Steve Collar, chief executive of satellite operator SES, said the industry was “heading for a situation where there will be far too many satellites deployed. A lot of these plans . . . are in direct response to the fact that nobody is properly regulating.” Luxembourg owns a third of SES voting rights.
Musk, in particular, has come under fire from astronomers and rivals for the pace of his expansion. Earlier this year his SpaceX rocket company was launching more than 100 satellites every month, with close to 2,000 currently in low earth orbit.
Astronomers worry that huge numbers of satellites will interfere with ground-based telescopes and could “impact the appearance of the night sky for stargazers worldwide,” according to a report by the American Astronomical Society.
Ralph Dinsley, founder of NORSS, which tracks objects in space, said the fact that Musk manufactured his own satellites and could launch them with his SpaceX rocket company meant he could move faster than rivals to occupy the most desirable orbital planes. “At the speed he is putting these into orbit, he is almost owning those orbital planes, because no one can get in there. He is creating a Musk sovereignty in space.”
Aschbacher said it was clear that US regulators, as part of a national government, were “interested in developing not only the economy, but also certain dominance of certain economic sectors. This is happening . . . very, very, very, very clearly. And very strongly.”
If SpaceX actually manages to reliably fly to the moon and back in the next two years, they’ll be the first entity in like 300 years reaching land where existing rules cannot be enforced. In the West, corporations like SpaceX and Rocket Lab are currently the only entities offering state-of-the-art competitive access to space. SpaceX is the entity closest to getting man out of orbit — and back again.
My point is, we can make all the rules we want. If we cannot enforce them, and we are close to that point with big corporations, they are useless. The new space race results in the reemergence of company towns in the US. They’ll make their own rules. This is worrying.
why not, better than the politicians
Seize the means of exploration
You snooze, you lose
“We can’t compete so no one should…”
[deleted]
Europe too slow.
SpaceX’s nonchalante attitude to orbital adjustments has already caused multiple near misses. It only takes one collision for a debris field to form, and in such a crowded orbit secondary collisions are pretty much inevitable. Most of the debris would deorbit within a year, but some of it would end up in higher orbits and could cause trouble there too, and that’s ignoring the space station. Irresponsible behaviour could kill people. “Kessler Syndrome” could become a real problem. Remember that scene in WALL-E where the rocket flies through a debris field of junk satellites? Imagine that, but everything is flying around chaotically with relative velocities in the hundreds of metres per second.
If they are to be allowed to maintain a satellite grid in the most valuable region of space, they first need to show that they are willing to return that trust with responsible behaviour. Space is no place for cowboys.
Long term the EU can’t compete in space against the US.
Spacex is building the rockets of the future and the satellite internet infrastructure that the world should have had years ago and the ESA/Europe has sat on its ass the whole time assuming that some infographics and goals for the 2030s would somehow make it not a problem.
Coming from a Russian…
Did you knew your country just littered earth orbit for decades? With russias own astronauts right in a way of debris. Idiots.
Space X and Starlink must be split up…
I speak bureaucrat so allow me to translate. SpaceX has superior launch technology allowing them to launch more satellites for cheaper faster than we can. Which is unfair, and rather than do what they did (which is hard) we will take the easy path and whine to regulators to regulate SpaceX out of the leading position they currently enjoy
Space only plays by few high tech players
The ESA is such a joke its not even funny. The US has around four private Space companies and getting ready to establish its first human colonies on Mars by 2030. SpaceX and NASA are doing wonders for the US right now. Russia is advancing top notch rocket and station technology. They have ExoMars which is the only reason the ESA is relevant. China aims to send fully crewed missions and colonize Mars with the US in 2033. They also been launching rovers and establishing themselves. They also built the worlds biggest radio telescope. What has the ESA done besides complain because all these other countries are outclassing them in every single way.
20 comments
>US billionaire’s thousands of satellites risk crowding other operators out of low earth orbits
>
>The head of the European Space Agency has urged the continent’s leaders to stop facilitating Elon Musk’s ambition to dominate the new space economy, warning that the lack of co-ordinated action meant the US billionaire was “making the rules” himself.
>
>Josef Aschbacher, the new director-general of ESA, said that Europe’s readiness to help the rapid expansion of Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service risked hindering the region’s own companies from realising the potential of commercial space.
>
>“Space will be much more restrictive [in terms of] frequencies and orbital slots,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times. “The governments of Europe collectively should have an interest to . . . give European providers equal opportunities to play on a fair market.”
>
>Germany has recently applied to the International Telecommunications Union, which coordinates the use of wireless frequencies for carrying data, to grant Starlink spectrum for roughly 40,000 satellites. Musk has already won approval for more than 30,000 satellites through US regulators.
>
>Earlier this year, Musk said SpaceX, his private rocket company, was prepared to spend up to $30bn to expand Starlink.
>
>Aschbacher said Musk’s Starlink was already so big that it was difficult for regulators or rivals to catch up. “You have one person owning half of the active satellites in the world. That’s quite amazing. De facto, he is making the rules. The rest of the world including Europe . . . is just not responding quick enough.”
>
>Starlink and the UK government-backed OneWeb are leading a rush to create mega-constellations of hundreds and even thousands of satellites in low earth orbit, or LEO, to provide broadband to places hard to reach by cable.
>
>The Chinese government and Amazon’s Project Kuiper both plan to launch their own LEO constellations.
>
>A new generation of space companies, driven by falling launch costs and cheaper satellites, is also aiming to deliver commercial services from LEO such as earth observation.
>
>The rush to tap the potential of commercial space — made possible by falling launch costs and cheaper, smaller satellites — has fuelled concern over the absence of a global space traffic management system for low earth orbit, a region of up to 2000 kms above the earth where most new commercial services are targeted.
>
>Last year the Satellite Industry Association estimated there could be more than 100,000 commercial spacecraft in orbit by 2029.
>
>Aschbacher’s concerns were echoed by Franz Fayot, Luxembourg’s economy minister, who said new rules were needed to ensure the safe use of space.
>
>“You have people like Elon Musk, just launching constellations and satellites and throwingTeslas up into orbit. We need to set common rules. Colonisation, or just doing things in a completely deregulated space, is a concern” he said on the sidelines of the New Space conference in Luxembourg.
>
>Starlink did not respond to a request for comment.
>
>Europe’s satellite sector is dominated by traditional operators who rely on a much small number of expensive, high orbit satellites to provide services such as TV transmission.
>
>Although the ITU coordinates radio frequencies, there is no overarching international authority or regulator controlling the launch of satellites. One fear is that, as orbits become overcrowded, there is a growing risk of collisions which could generate catastrophic quantities of debris. Space junk is already a significant hazard.
>
>Steve Collar, chief executive of satellite operator SES, said the industry was “heading for a situation where there will be far too many satellites deployed. A lot of these plans . . . are in direct response to the fact that nobody is properly regulating.” Luxembourg owns a third of SES voting rights.
>
>Musk, in particular, has come under fire from astronomers and rivals for the pace of his expansion. Earlier this year his SpaceX rocket company was launching more than 100 satellites every month, with close to 2,000 currently in low earth orbit.
>
>Astronomers worry that huge numbers of satellites will interfere with ground-based telescopes and could “impact the appearance of the night sky for stargazers worldwide,” according to a report by the American Astronomical Society.
>
>Ralph Dinsley, founder of NORSS, which tracks objects in space, said the fact that Musk manufactured his own satellites and could launch them with his SpaceX rocket company meant he could move faster than rivals to occupy the most desirable orbital planes. “At the speed he is putting these into orbit, he is almost owning those orbital planes, because no one can get in there. He is creating a Musk sovereignty in space.”
>
>Aschbacher said it was clear that US regulators, as part of a national government, were “interested in developing not only the economy, but also certain dominance of certain economic sectors. This is happening . . . very, very, very, very clearly. And very strongly.”
Sour grapes. It is not like ESA has possibility to throw a bunch of LEO satellites on their own.
Besided, Sue Origin has already patented whining and complaining when not being able to compete.
The EU unfortunately are on a path of “EU” only, bit like “US Only” under trump. That means European cooperation is out of the window.
If European states want a European LEO constellation, do what the French have done and buy into OneWeb.
Article is behind a paywall now
The head of the European Space Agency has urged the continent’s leaders to stop facilitating Elon Musk’s ambition to dominate the new space economy, warning that the lack of co-ordinated action meant the US billionaire was “making the rules” himself.
Josef Aschbacher, the new director-general of ESA, said that Europe’s readiness to help the rapid expansion of Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service risked hindering the region’s own companies from realising the potential of commercial space.
“Space will be much more restrictive [in terms of] frequencies and orbital slots,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times. “The governments of Europe collectively should have an interest to . . . give European providers equal opportunities to play on a fair market.”
Germany has recently applied to the International Telecommunications Union, which co-ordinates the use of wireless frequencies for carrying data, to grant Starlink spectrum for about 40,000 satellites. Musk has already won approval for more than 30,000 satellites through US regulators.
Earlier this year, Musk said SpaceX, his private rocket company, was prepared to spend up to $30bn to expand Starlink.
Aschbacher said Musk’s Starlink was already so big that it was difficult for regulators or rivals to catch up. “You have one person owning half of the active satellites in the world. That’s quite amazing. De facto, he is making the rules. The rest of the world including Europe . . . is just not responding quick enough.”
Starlink and the UK government-backed OneWeb are leading a rush to create mega-constellations of hundreds and even thousands of satellites in low earth orbit, or LEO, to provide broadband to places hard to reach by cable.
The Chinese government and Amazon’s Project Kuiper both plan to launch their own LEO constellations.
A new generation of space companies, driven by falling launch costs and cheaper satellites, is also aiming to deliver commercial services from LEO such as earth observation.
The rush to tap the potential of commercial space — made possible by falling launch costs and cheaper, smaller satellites — has fuelled concern over the absence of a global space traffic management system for low earth orbit, a region of up to 2,000km above the earth where most new commercial services are targeted.
Last year the Satellite Industry Association estimated there could be more than 100,000 commercial spacecraft in orbit by 2029.
Aschbacher’s concerns were echoed by Franz Fayot, Luxembourg’s economy minister, who said new rules were needed to ensure the safe use of space.
“You have people like Elon Musk, just launching constellations and satellites and throwing Teslas up into orbit. We need to set common rules. Colonisation, or just doing things in a completely deregulated space, is a concern” he said on the sidelines of the New Space conference in Luxembourg.
Starlink did not respond to a request for comment.
Europe’s satellite sector is dominated by traditional operators who rely on a much small number of expensive, high orbit satellites to provide services such as television transmission.
Although the ITU co-ordinates radio frequencies, there is no overarching international authority or regulator controlling the launch of satellites. One fear is that, as orbits become overcrowded, there is a growing risk of collisions which could generate catastrophic quantities of debris. Space junk is already a significant hazard.
Recommended
Inside BusinessPeggy Hollinger
Russian satellite debris is a wake-up call for emerging space industry
Steve Collar, chief executive of satellite operator SES, said the industry was “heading for a situation where there will be far too many satellites deployed. A lot of these plans . . . are in direct response to the fact that nobody is properly regulating.” Luxembourg owns a third of SES voting rights.
Musk, in particular, has come under fire from astronomers and rivals for the pace of his expansion. Earlier this year his SpaceX rocket company was launching more than 100 satellites every month, with close to 2,000 currently in low earth orbit.
Astronomers worry that huge numbers of satellites will interfere with ground-based telescopes and could “impact the appearance of the night sky for stargazers worldwide,” according to a report by the American Astronomical Society.
Ralph Dinsley, founder of NORSS, which tracks objects in space, said the fact that Musk manufactured his own satellites and could launch them with his SpaceX rocket company meant he could move faster than rivals to occupy the most desirable orbital planes. “At the speed he is putting these into orbit, he is almost owning those orbital planes, because no one can get in there. He is creating a Musk sovereignty in space.”
Aschbacher said it was clear that US regulators, as part of a national government, were “interested in developing not only the economy, but also certain dominance of certain economic sectors. This is happening . . . very, very, very, very clearly. And very strongly.”
If SpaceX actually manages to reliably fly to the moon and back in the next two years, they’ll be the first entity in like 300 years reaching land where existing rules cannot be enforced. In the West, corporations like SpaceX and Rocket Lab are currently the only entities offering state-of-the-art competitive access to space. SpaceX is the entity closest to getting man out of orbit — and back again.
My point is, we can make all the rules we want. If we cannot enforce them, and we are close to that point with big corporations, they are useless. The new space race results in the reemergence of company towns in the US. They’ll make their own rules. This is worrying.
why not, better than the politicians
Seize the means of exploration
You snooze, you lose
“We can’t compete so no one should…”
[deleted]
Europe too slow.
SpaceX’s nonchalante attitude to orbital adjustments has already caused multiple near misses. It only takes one collision for a debris field to form, and in such a crowded orbit secondary collisions are pretty much inevitable. Most of the debris would deorbit within a year, but some of it would end up in higher orbits and could cause trouble there too, and that’s ignoring the space station. Irresponsible behaviour could kill people. “Kessler Syndrome” could become a real problem. Remember that scene in WALL-E where the rocket flies through a debris field of junk satellites? Imagine that, but everything is flying around chaotically with relative velocities in the hundreds of metres per second.
If they are to be allowed to maintain a satellite grid in the most valuable region of space, they first need to show that they are willing to return that trust with responsible behaviour. Space is no place for cowboys.
Long term the EU can’t compete in space against the US.
Spacex is building the rockets of the future and the satellite internet infrastructure that the world should have had years ago and the ESA/Europe has sat on its ass the whole time assuming that some infographics and goals for the 2030s would somehow make it not a problem.
Coming from a Russian…
Did you knew your country just littered earth orbit for decades? With russias own astronauts right in a way of debris. Idiots.
Space X and Starlink must be split up…
I speak bureaucrat so allow me to translate. SpaceX has superior launch technology allowing them to launch more satellites for cheaper faster than we can. Which is unfair, and rather than do what they did (which is hard) we will take the easy path and whine to regulators to regulate SpaceX out of the leading position they currently enjoy
Space only plays by few high tech players
The ESA is such a joke its not even funny. The US has around four private Space companies and getting ready to establish its first human colonies on Mars by 2030. SpaceX and NASA are doing wonders for the US right now. Russia is advancing top notch rocket and station technology. They have ExoMars which is the only reason the ESA is relevant. China aims to send fully crewed missions and colonize Mars with the US in 2033. They also been launching rovers and establishing themselves. They also built the worlds biggest radio telescope. What has the ESA done besides complain because all these other countries are outclassing them in every single way.