New center aims to address issues raised by satellite swarms

The International Astronomical Union is leading the creation of a new center to deal with the complications created by constellations of broadband satellites like SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

The IAU Center for Dark and Quiet Sky Protection from Satellite Constellation Interference will be co-hosted at the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab in Arizona and the SKA Observatory offices at Jodrell Bank in Britain .

“The new center is an important step in ensuring that advances in technology do not inadvertently impede our study and enjoyment of heaven,” IAU President Debra Elmegreen said in a press release today.

Former IAU Secretary General Piero Benvenuti, director of the center, said the memorandum of understanding establishing the center had been signed a day earlier and a website for the project had yet to be released. created.

But the Institute for Data Intensive Research in Astrophysics and Cosmology, or DIRAC, at the University of Washington, is already getting a head start on one of the center’s missions – cataloging astronomical images with satellite sequences so that they may be available for analysis.

“This is just the beginning,” UW astronomer Meredith Rawls, who leads the Trailblazer project, said during an online press briefing. “We need to go beyond images from professional observatories and have other types of data repositories to include radio data and amateur observations. Even simple DSLR photography can help understand the problem, because if we don’t have data, we can’t really take the next step to find solutions.

The problem first surfaced in 2019 when SpaceX launched the first 60 satellites in its Starlink constellation, which aims to bring high-speed internet access to billions of people around the world who are currently underserved.

Astronomers quickly noticed that the satellites reflected sunlight and spoiled their observations. And even though SpaceX has since taken steps to reduce the reflectivity of satellites, the problem persists.

Conflicts could escalate as a new generation of astronomical facilities come online, such as the NSF’s $473 million Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. The DIRAC is required to play a key role in the processing of data from this observatory.

The rapid rise of satellite constellations will further complicate the issue. SpaceX has already launched more than 2,000 satellites for its Starlink network and aims to have tens of thousands in orbit eventually. Another broadband company, OneWeb, has launched nearly 400 satellites and is gearing up for commercial service.

Amazon, meanwhile, has won regulatory approval for a constellation of 3,236 Project Kuiper satellites, though none of those satellites have yet been sent into orbit. Still other companies have filed the documents for additional constellations.

NOIRLab’s Connie Walker, who will serve as co-director of the new center, said if all current plans come to pass, more than 5,000 satellites could be above the horizon at any time by the end of the decade. Hundreds of these satellites would be visible each night during orbit-raising maneuvers, she said.

“Astronomy is facing a watershed moment of increasing interference with observations and loss of science,” she told reporters.

This week’s establishment of the new center follows months of deliberations that have involved astronomers as well as policymakers and industry representatives. The stage was set last year when scientists and other stakeholders presented a set of recommendations following a virtual workshop.

Benvenuti said the center will officially begin operations on April 1. The activities of the center will initially be funded on a seed basis by the IAU, NOIRLab and the SKA Observatory. “The initial budget is not huge,” he said. But organizers hope to raise additional funds from government agencies, academic sources and industry contributors.

Walker said organizers are already talking with Amazon, OneWeb and SpaceX. “Each of these three companies has been pretty strong in their word that they would like to work with us wholeheartedly and do whatever they can,” she said.

She acknowledged that mitigation efforts are limited by satellite design and operational requirements. For example, OneWeb is unable to lower the orbits of its satellites, which could have reduced the time during which they can interfere with optical and radio observations.

“There are other mitigations they can do, like lower the brightness by coating their satellites when they can,” Walker said. “But they specifically asked us to do this before the design and launch of their satellites. So we have to work very closely with them whenever we can. And it is better to make these agreements than to actually go through regulations. »

Working with industry is just one of the centre’s functions. Another goal is to provide data, analysis tools and training to researchers seeking to understand and mitigate the effects of satellite mega-constellations. Rawls leads this working group, or “hub”.

Two other centers will focus on policy development and community engagement. On the policy side of the issue, the center intends to work with officials at the national level as well as with the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. And on the community engagement front, astronomers collaborate with stakeholders ranging from photographers and tourism professionals to environmentalists and indigenous groups.

“While it’s true that many rural and indigenous communities need better internet access, a service that satellite constellations can help provide, this problem is much more complex,” said Jessica Heim, researcher in cultural astronomy who runs the community engagement center.

“The sky is part of the environment, and Earth’s ecosystems can be affected by changes in the sky,” Heim said. “We have concluded that it is essential that industry leaders, space actors and all stakeholders work together to co-create a shared ethical and sustainable approach to space.”

In that vein, Rawls said resources provided by the satellite data hub she will lead, known as SatHub, would be made freely available to the public.

“It’s not just a tool for astronomers,” she said. “This is for skywatchers of all kinds, data analysts, software developers, satellite industry experts, students – I want this to be the kind of resource I wish I had. when I first started learning about this issue two years ago.”

how to help

In an email to GeekWire, Rawls provided more details about the Trailblazer project:

“At the moment Trailblazer only has a small suite of test images – although I feel like someone emails me every week or two with more, or tweets on how they found footage on their recent sighting run Trailblazer will begin soliciting downloads (and/or connections to existing data archives, details TBD) of FITS images known to have footage observer satellites around the world once we are launched.

“If people want to help, we can use two short-term things: (1) software/web developers with expertise in python/django who are interested in volunteering to help run our web service, and ( 2) make connections with astronomers who have lots of images to contribute, so we’re willing to support lots of telescope + camera combos in advance Well, and (3) more funding so I don’t don’t have to ask for experienced volunteers.