The US Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG), a federation of public interest advocacy groups, has asked the FCC to halt low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite launches until the environmental consequences of space pollution can be better managed.

Those concerns were underscored on Thursday when one of China's Long March 6A rockets broke apart in LEO after deploying 18 satellites for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology group's Thousand Sails constellation. Reports suggest as many as 900 pieces of debris were scattered as a result of the disintegration.

US Space Command said at least 300 pieces are large enough to be tracked, each being 10cm (4 inches) or more across, though added it has observed no "immediate threats."

China hopes to put as many as 15,000 broadband-relaying sats into orbit in that Qianfan constellation.

Writing last week, US PIRG directed its concern at SpaceX, dubbing Elon Musk's rocket show "WasteX" for the "mega-constellations" of communications satellites shot into the sky by the Texas-based firm's Starlink subsidiary.

"Over just five years Starlink has launched more than 6,000 units and now make up more than 60 percent of all satellites," said Lucas Gutterman, director of the US PIRG Education Fund's Designed to Last project, in an online article. "The new space race took off faster than governments were able to act."

What's more, Gutterman urges the FCC to end the environmental review exemption afforded to mega-constellations of satellites.

"That launching 30,000 to 500,000 satellites into low Earth orbit doesn’t even warrant an environmental review offends common sense," he said, pointing to a 2022 US Government Accountability Office report that found the federal telecoms watchdog has no documented reason for deciding that satellite swarms should not be subject to environmental review.

Starlink is said to have proposed a mega-constellation of 30,000 to 40,000 satellites to support its wireless communication service. And when proposals from Amazon’s Project Kuiper, OneWeb, and other outfits are considered, the number exceeds 500,000.

Both the rockets lifting satellites into orbit and the satellites themselves have environmental consequences, in addition to creating risks for other objects and activities in space, and for people on the ground.

Clara Moskowitz, senior editor for Scientific American, highlighted this risk at Springer Nature Group's eighth annual Science on the Hill event last month.

"There are more than 200 million pieces of trash currently in orbit that are capable of doing damage to an operational satellite if they hit it," she
said.

"And almost 30,000 of them are larger than a roll of toilet paper. And the risk isn't just to satellites. Only two months ago, a piece of junk from the International Space Station fell through the roof and two floors of a house in Naples [Florida]. With the whole Space Station due to become trash in 2030, it's time we got serious about the waste in space."

With the whole Space Station due to become trash in 2030, it's time we got serious about the waste in space

One of the panelists at the event, Moriba Jah, co-founder and chief scientist at Privateer, said we should start working to undo some of the damage.

"We're just launching 60 satellites every three weeks at this point," said Jah. "It's like we are outpacing the environment's ability to give us feedback on the unintended consequences of our actions."

Lawmakers are starting to listen. In July, a bipartisan group from the House of Representatives introduced the Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act, after Senate legislators unanimously passed the ORBITS Act a second time in March.

"The Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act will provide resources to reduce the amount of debris and establish Active Debris Remediation missions to move the wreckage," said Representative Carol Miller (R-WV), one of the bill's co-sponsors, in a statement. "As the United States continues to invest in space exploration, we can improve the missions by removing the debris in orbit."

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/08/12/starlink_spacex_environment_review/