Contaminating the night sky
Karel Green says that while private space endeavours are to be welcomed, we should not ignore the social and ethical concerns that they raise
The past year has seen the exciting prospect of private space travel become a reality. In July, Blue Origin – the firm owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos – launched its first batch of space tourists. The crew, which included Bezos, reached an altitude of 120 km in an 11-minute flight. That same month also saw Richard Branson’s VSS Unity successfully carry out its first crewed flight – with Branson onboard – where it flew to an altitude of about 80 km. Since November 2020 SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, has also been ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station as well as more recently taking civilian-only crews into space.
There has been a huge amount of generally positive media coverage about these endeavours. In a high-profile launch in October, Blue Origin sent William Shatner into space. The actor, who played Captain James T Kirk in the original Star Trek series, became the oldest person in space, with the event closing the circle that was opened by the first Black female astronaut Mae Jemison, who was the first astronaut to appear on Star Trek.
No-one can deny that these rockets are a huge feat of engineering. Blue Origin, for example, took over a decade to complete and had no trained pilots controlling the rocket. The world-class research and long-term jobs that these events create cannot be denied. The work done is pushing the boundaries of planetary- and Earth-based science, which is a requirement for progress.
These three pioneers of the private space industry, however, are not astronauts but corporate chief executives who have the interests of their business at heart. Indeed, the official definition of an astronaut was changed in July by the US Federal Aviation Administration to exclude Bezos and Branson, instead highlighting scientific research and public safety as a reason for space flight.
These private space initiatives, though full of well-intentioned bravado, are also having unintended consequences. For example, since 2015, Space X has been launching satellites in low-Earth orbit that belong to the “mega-constellation” Starlink. Throughout 2019 and 2020 SpaceX launched the first few hundred of the planned 12,000 satellites into low-Earth orbit, with the eventual goal of the array to beam internet across the globe.
Unfortunately, Starlink has some serious downsides when it comes to astronomy. Due to their relatively low orbital radius, Starlink satellites are not only much larger than other objects at similar altitudes, but the array is much more reflective than engineers had expected. For several months astronomers complained while multiple astronomical organizations, both professional and amateur, showed the impact they were having on observations. Satellite manufacturers took steps to reduce the impact such as adding an additional anti-reflection layer or a further sunshade, but these have not proven to be very effective.
Spoiling the view
Extreme record-breaking weather conditions are being recorded globally and are getting worse year on year. If these activities continue on their current trajectory, they will only cause yet more irreparable damage to the environment due to the whims of the ultra-rich. It is estimated that about 60 Starlink satellites will need to be replaced each month, while 11-minute rocket flights into space emit 100 times more carbon dioxide than airline flights. The pollution caused by such endeavours does not bode well for the green-energy future we need to reverse the effects of global warming.
Providing access to space for the lucky few who can afford the ride also raises the question of who is paying the true price for private space endeavours. The answer is all of us. In the wake of Bezos’s successful trip into space in July, he was criticized when he thanked his employees at Amazon who, in his words, “paid for this”. Bezos has sold £72m worth of tickets for future rides but it has been well documented that the employees at Amazon are treated poorly. In many countries, they are forced to work gruelling hours to reach unrealistic deadlines, have been denied healthcare during a pandemic and subsequently are forced to work under even more oppressive and dangerous conditions. Staff who worked on Blue Origin have also raised concerns that the company ignored safety protocols and harboured sexism in the workplace.
It is clear from the social and environmental issues that plague every part of corporate science that if the sector is to be sustainable then official regulation is needed to ensure that all scientific endeavours, private or otherwise, are done ethically. There are already around 6500 objects in orbit around Earth and space should not become a wild west for the rich. If space travel and scientific instrumentation are to be done at their best, it cannot be at the cost of the labour and lives of the most vulnerable on Earth.