There’s a countdown clock on the wall of Fleet Space Technologies’ Adelaide headquarters, ticking down the seconds to their next launch.
The company already boasts the most satellites in the sky with an Australian flag, with seven in orbit. They say that number will double by the end of the year, and continue to grow to a constellation of 240 satellites within the next four years.
“We’re … creating these mass manufactured satellites and launching them in the sky, so we can cover every orbit and every side of the planet,” says CEO and co-founder of Fleet Space, Flavia Tata Nardini.
In satellite terms, Fleet’s are tiny - about the size of a pizza box - and they sit in low earth orbit, about 500 kilometres from Earth. These 'nanosatellites' are being deployed to enable the Internet of Things - machines, devices and objects that connect with each other.
“Satellites come to the rescue,” says Ms Tata Nardini, “to connect to the internet, to improve efficiency.”
But recently, a new industry using LEO satellites to provide internet services to people on Earth has boomed, prompting mass manufacture and launch of smaller, more efficient satellites. The aim is to create “megaconstellations” of satellites to cover the entire globe, promising greater connectivity in the most remote parts of the planet.
Experts say this is the new space race - a commercial space race, lead not by nations, but by entrepreneurs.
The clear leader of the pack is Elon Musk’s Starlink. A division of SpaceX, Starlink is an internet service aimed at people in rural or remote areas who don’t otherwise have access to high-speed broadband. Users set up a small satellite dish at home, which receives a signal from the satellites in the sky.
For Simon and Sarah Matthee, Starlink has been a game changer. Living in Gisborne South, just 45 minutes from Melbourne, the couple found themselves in both an NBN and mobile reception black spot.
After exhausting other options like Sky Muster (a satellite internet service operated by NBN Co), mobile internet and private networks, the Matthees turned to Starlink as a “last resort” six months ago.
“It worked from the moment we got it,” says Simon.
A working internet connection means Simon and Sarah can finally do things many take for granted including take Zoom meetings and stream music and TV.
But while Starlink has been praised for filling the gaps left in Australia’s NBN - as well as quickly providing vital internet connections in times of turmoil for Ukraine and Tonga - some experts are concerned about the unintended consequences of having so many low orbiting satellites in our sky.
Starlink already has over 2000 satellites in low earth orbit - with plans for over 40,000 to form a megaconstellation. There are competitors, too - Amazon’s Project Kuiper is planning to launch thousands of satellites from the end of this year, while the UK-based OneWeb already has hundreds of satellites in orbit, with more to come.
The satellites are low enough to be visible to the naked eye, and can disrupt astronomical research and observation, as well as casual stargazing.
Observational astronomer Associate Professor Michael Brown, from Melbourne's Monash University says he’s concerned about how these satellites will change our view of the night sky.
Observational astronomer Associate Professor Michael Brown says he’s concerned about how these satellites will change our view of the night sky.
“But what if we look up at the night sky, and are continuously reminded of technology in our daily lives?
“I think there’s something very upsetting about that possibility.”
He says the satellites leave trails through the images astronomers take, obliterating the data beneath.
“At the moment, it’s a relatively minor nuisance, but if we have 10 times or 100 times more satellites up there, then it starts to become a problem. It starts to interfere with our data collection.”
For some, the stakes are higher. Astrophysics graduate Krystal De Napoli, a Gomeroi woman, says satellite companies are essentially colonising the skies, covering up constellations that have been integral parts of Indigenous knowledge systems for millenia.
“The skies can inform us about particular calendars … not just with our seasons and our climate, but also with animal behaviour and cycles, different plant cycles as well,” she explains.
Astrophysics graduate Krystal De Napoli, a Gomeroi woman, says satellite companies are essentially colonising the skies.
“Dark sky constellations … are very sensitive to things like light pollution.
“With these bright satellites … polluting the skies, we’re going to lose a lot of those reference points.”
Though concerned about the number of satellites being launched, Ms De Napoli says technological progress is important, and providing internet connection to remote areas is “genuinely very noble.”
“We’re not saying no one should use the skies, they need to remain untouched … it’s more that we need Indigenous voices included in the conversation, because at the moment, we’re not even at the table to discuss it.”
Flavia Tata Nardini agrees more regulation and controls are needed, as more companies set their sights on the skies.
“There is a big race … but we need to ensure that it’s a regulated race,” she says.
“Everyone is starting to have access to space … Like every industry, there are cowboys.
“[With] cowboys in the space industry, the impact is made a little bit more complex.”
The dark lanes here form the neck and body of the Dark Emu constellation. Credit: VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty
Space lawyer and academic Professor Melissa de Zwart, from Adelaide's Flinders University, stresses that space is not “a wild west frontier … there are five UN space treaties,” as well as domestic law governing how countries can take to the skies.
But these space laws were negotiated in the 1960s, in response to the first space race, and mounting concerns over the use of space for nuclear warfare.
“It was anticipated really that there were only ever going to be scientists and great powers in space,” Professor de Zwart says.
“It wasn’t really contemplated that you would have the operators that we have today.”
This means there aren’t clear answers to a lot of questions about the short and long term consequences of private companies launching satellite megaconstellations. What happens when a satellite is defunct and becomes space junk? What about if a satellite company goes bankrupt? What happens when billionaire entrepreneurs start turning their focus to the Moon, and Mars?
Space lawyer and academic Professor Melissa de Zwart says that space is not “a wild west frontier".
“New scenarios are going to present themselves every day.”
And while there is commercial pressure on companies such as Starlink to use space sustainably, to ensure they have continued access to space in the years to come, there’s also pressure to get constellations up in the sky as soon as possible.
“There’s only so much low earth orbit,” says Professor de Zwart. “Once the LEO area is saturated with constellations, then that will be it.
“There’s no regulation at the moment which limits how many satellites I can deploy at any one time. So - first up, best dressed.”
To Krystal De Napoli, the rush to launch large numbers of satellites is worrying.
“It wouldn’t be the first time that humanity has proceeded forward without fully considering the implications of what we might be doing.
“I am worried that we are excitedly rushing forwards without taking into account that we are trying to put up tens of thousands of these satellites, that aren’t the easiest things to then just remove if we change our minds.”
Elon Musk, the Chief Engineer of SpaceX, speaking about the Starlink project at the Mobile World Congress Barcelona in June 2021. Source: NurPhoto / NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Looking at the stars on a recent camping trip, she thought she’d spotted shooting stars, before realising they were actually Starlink satellites.
“I found it very confronting to actually realise that humanity has built something that is changing the sky,” she says.
“I spent three days looking at the sky and counting the time between one Starlink satellite and the other, and thinking: should I be proud, or should I be concerned? I felt that battle inside me.”
These concerns aren’t lost on Simon Matthee. A happy Starlink customer, he also describes himself as a “very amateur stargazer.”
“It can be quite humbling to look up at the stars and just realise how incredibly tiny we are … it’s really quite amazing to me that we, throughout history, just look up and see meaning in all these dots up there,” he says.
“If the satellites were to become more visible and really changed how we saw the stars, I think it would be quite sad.
“But at the same time, it would be kind of part of our story as humans, as well.”
