"The rapid expansion of orbital activity is creating a problem that no longer ends at the edge of space. New figures highlighted in the European Space Agency’s Space Environment Report 2026 show that uncontrolled rocket stages, dead satellites and other hardware are returning through Earth’s atmosphere with increasing frequency, raising risks for people, aircraft and infrastructure below."

"[H]umanity has effectively created a vast orbital scrapyard. According to the report, more than 15,800 tonnes of human-made material are currently circling the Earth, a figure aligned with estimates published by the European Space Agency (ESA). The scale of orbital congestion is striking. Of the 33,269 objects currently tracked in orbit, 17,682 are active or inactive payloads, mainly satellites. Another 2,396 are rocket bodies, while 12,550 are classified as debris fragments. A further 641 objects remain unassigned. This means almost 47 percent of all tracked objects are already categorised as debris. The true picture may be even worse."

"For two decades, largely in service to the International Space Station, NASA has sought to foster an “economy” in low-Earth orbit. ... In April 2024, the space agency explicitly laid out its philosophy: 'NASA supports a robust commercial space economy that advances American industry and promotes technological discovery through in-space work and research. NASA remains committed to fostering innovation and collaboration within the American space industry.' But just two years later, there are growing questions about the viability of this."

"Space sustainability rests on the peaceful and socioeconomic use of space. Current measures focus on maintaining orbital trafficability, largely following a linear material flow, neglecting impacts on Earth’s atmosphere and environment. A holistic approach should extend concern from orbital safety and ground casualty risk to full circularity of spacecraft materials."

"Armies have soldiers, navies have sailors and an air force has airmen and the US space force has ‘guardians’. This name for the Space Force personnel was announced by Mike Pence in December 2020, when he was vice president of the United States. Now six years later, on September 15, 2026, the US Air Force secretary Troy Meink has stated that these guardians would also have an offensive role in future. ... It is unfortunate that the US has positioned weapons in space. This development is expected to rapidly make space warfare a reality, which is not in the interest of any country in the world."

"On Oct. 1, Google is scheduled to launch a satellite that can run its artificial intelligence technologies in space. Others say they are not far behind. The plan is to put many of these computers into orbit and allow them to communicate, so that they can operate like a giant data center. ... Even Google admits that engineers do not yet know how to make all this work. And even if they can make it work, they are not sure when all of this will be economically viable."

"In an unprecedented move, the Defense Department has agreed to give SpaceX exclusive access to the government’s most classified space tracking data, according to a dozen government and industry sources. One of the sources, a Space Force official, told Breaking Defense a 'contractual agreement' has been signed between SpaceX and the Space Force’s Joint Commercial Operations Cell (JCO), trading company access to US Space Command’s (SPACECOM) most detailed version of its High Accuracy Catalog (HAC) of on-orbit objects in exchange for SpaceX giving the JCO data from its Stargaze star-tracking cameras. It’s unclear when the arrangement began, but in recent days it has sparked concern in the US space tracking industry, sources said."

"We’ve written a lot about these constellations, and they have generated a bunch of questions. Most prominent among them: Just how sustainable is all of this? Will we see the Kessler syndrome play out in real time? Here are some answers. How bad is the situation? It depends on who you ask."

"NASA must be more selective in the way it forges international partnerships as the race to the Moon transforms from a battle for national prestige between the United States and China into a high-stakes competition for extraterrestrial real estate and resources, the agency’s administrator said. Jared Isaacman, now in his 10th month at the helm of the world’s largest civilian space agency, told a gathering of military leaders and defense contractors last week near Washington, DC, that the 21st-century race to the Moon is more than a battle of ideologies. The sweet spot for a Moon base, Isaacman said, is a relatively small region near the lunar south pole, and there are tangible implications for who gets there first."

"A native vegetation ruling has grounded a South Australian rocket launch complex despite having state and federal government planning approval. The Native Vegetation Council denied variations to the heritage agreement at Whalers Way, where Southern Launch hopes to build a space facility. The state government did not clarify whether the minister will challenge the decision."

"From pharmaceuticals and protein thin films to semiconductor materials, a number of problems that are difficult to solve in ground factories are now seeking solutions in space. However, to turn high-quality samples from laboratories into long-term orders from customers, three barriers concerning quality, cost and delivery lead time still need to be overcome. Space manufacturing has already found buyers willing to give it a try. Who will be the long-term purchasers next?"

"Over the summer, the national astronomy meeting at the University of Birmingham held a session on 'dark and quiet skies'. Jim Verner, a director at Dark Sky UK, gave a presentation. He had some arresting numbers. In 2016 there were 1,450 satellites in orbit. Today, 16,000. In 2030? As many as 100,000. There are currently, he said, 2.3 million satellite applications in progress. The Royal Astronomical Society has been trying to explain to people what it would mean even if, as is likely, only a fraction of those actually go up. The simplest explanation is, when you look at the sky, especially around dawn and dusk, you will see as many moving 'stars' as stationary ones."

"SpaceX already retires aging Starlink satellites by burning them up in the Earth’s atmosphere. But what happens when you try to disintegrate an even larger, orbiting data center? The company has told the Federal Communications Commission that some debris from a disposed orbiting data center could survive and land on the Earth, but expects the fragments to be harmless. On Thursday, SpaceX discussed the issue in a 12-page letter to the FCC after the Commission asked for more details about the “Starmind” satellites, and if they could survive atmospheric re-entry following disposal."

"Reflect Orbital, based near Los Angeles, hopes its satellite and others like it some day offer “sunlight on demand,” illuminating disaster areas for search and rescue efforts, lighting up nighttime events and festivals and allowing solar farms to run all hours of the day. ... But many space observers and dark sky enthusiasts are in an uproar. The consequences to astronomy could be catastrophic, they say, and the reflected light could threaten human health and safety and disrupt wildlife."

"The United States has publicly acknowledged for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space, raising fresh questions over a decades-old international treaty that was designed to prevent an arms race beyond Earth. The key legal framework is the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which has been ratified by the US and more than 100 other countries. Article IV prohibits countries from placing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in Earth orbit, installing them on the Moon or other celestial bodies, or stationing them in outer space. It also prohibits military bases, weapons testing and military manoeuvres on the Moon and other celestial bodies. But there is a major gap in the treaty: it does not explicitly ban conventional weapons from being placed in Earth orbit."

"The US Space Force detected the breakup on Sept. 13th when USA 32 unexpectedly shed a cloud of debris 775 km above Earth. The number of fragments is still unknown; Space-Track, the Space Force's public catalog, has not yet released a count. ... Analysts are carefully tracking the fragments and measuring their individual trajectories. Soon, they may be able to "run the clock backward" to see how the explosion began."

"On average, more than three intact satellites or rocket stages re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere every day. And, at the same time, ten new payloads are launched every day. ‘By 2025, the long-term impact of our space activities will have worsened by an order of magnitude in the space of just one year.’ This is highlighted in the annual report on the space environment (Space Environment Report), which ESA’s Space Debris Office has been publishing since 2017 to ‘provide a transparent overview of global space activities and assess the effectiveness of international debris mitigation measures in improving the long-term sustainability of space activities’."

"The U.S. military’s top uniformed leader says U.S. forces must be ready for war near or possibly even on the moon, a rhetorical leap that comes as service leaders are still wrestling with the legal frameworks surrounding its newly revealed orbital weapons. 'Our task, my friends, is to adapt right now, so the Joint Force is prepared to fight, endure, and win, in global contested environments, from the seabed to cislunar space,' Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told airmen, guardians, and industry figures during his keynote address at the Air, Space, and Cyber Conference."

"Fourteen Russian spy satellites moved over a US military base in Saudi Arabia two days before a devastating attack by Iran. The timing and sequencing of the spacecraft gave them access to a large spectrum of data which, US officials and international intelligence sources say, helped Tehran conduct some of its most precise attacks against American assets."

"How can Europe remain competitive and independent while ensuring that space stays safe and sustainable for all? At the International Space Summit, ESA worked with European and international partners to advance in-space operations and services, improve the long-term sustainability of space activities and support a global framework governing radio frequencies and satellite orbits. Held in Paris from 9 to 10 September 2026, the International Space Summit brought together 90 national delegations and international organisations to reflect on the future of space. ... On top of crucial discussions on Europe’s future in space, the summit resulted in the celebration of a joint declaration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission on advancing In-Space Operations and Services (ISOS), and the endorsement of two declarations on sustainability in space."

"Almost $200 million and almost a decade after it was first announced, a Commerce Department effort designed to free the Pentagon from the mission of tracking civil and commercial space operations, in order to better focus its resources on potential on-orbit threats, remains in its nascent stages. Now, as attendees gather for the annual AMOS conference here, long-simmering and complex debate about whether the Commerce Department should scrap, maintain or completely overhaul its Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) is at full boil."

"U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink on Monday revealed that the United States has deployed space-control weapons in orbit, while also disclosing new milestones for military satellite programs tied to missile defense and long-range targeting."

"As of today, any verified satellite operator anywhere in the world can look up an emergency contact for any other verified operator in a single, neutral, institutionally backed platform — for the first time in the history of spaceflight. The gap that platform fills is not technical. It is logistical. And in a low Earth orbit environment where the CRASH Clock research project page now reads 2.2 days — down from 164 days in 2018 — logistics are everything."

"The Federal Communications Commission is poised to cement its longstanding practice of excluding constellations from environmental reviews, amid an unprecedented wave of proposals covering more than a million orbital data centers."

"When the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, both nations agreed not to place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit around Earth. Specifically, Article IV of the treaty was designed to keep the Cold War's nuclear arms race from extending into space — a goal both superpowers shared. The problem, then and now, is that neither side has ever had a reliable way to confirm that the other is keeping its word."

"Everyone wants to go to space, but at what cost? Companies that have been hoping to colonize the cosmos are not addressing the potential environmental and atmospheric impacts of that expansion. This phenomenon is known as starwashing, and it is likely only going to become more common."

"Space is now a contested military domain as nations develop capabilities to disrupt satellites. The United States, Russia, and China are enhancing their space-based military infrastructure. Modern warfare increasingly relies on interconnected sensors and autonomous weapons systems. Destructive anti-satellite tests create debris, posing risks to all spacecraft. The conflict in Ukraine demonstrated cyberattacks and electronic warfare's impact on space assets."

"India’s private space economy is growing, with around 440 space technology startups now registered nationwide. Private companies are building launch vehicles, satellites, Earth observation systems, and orbital infrastructure. But those space missions also have a hidden cost of mission failure. ... IN-SPACe has therefore proposed third-party insurance for launch operators, capped at ₹500 crore. The cover would address damage to people, property, or other space objects caused by space activities. This is separate from mission insurance, which protects the operator’s own rocket or satellite. But industry responses suggest that the headline figure of ₹500 crore is not the main financial threat facing India’s space startups. It’s much bigger—whether India’s domestic capacity can underwrite such risks."

"The idea of a space-based defense that could destroy a boosting missile is so compelling—because it would solve the intractable midcourse-countermeasure problem—that the Pentagon has pursued such systems for decades. But the physics and cost ensured that none of those systems has gotten off the drawing board. Even a very limited system would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, would have no meaningful defensive capabilities, and would incentivize other countries to pursue countermeasures and respond in ways that could make the United States less secure than it is now. Still, hope springs eternal, as does the Pentagon’s ability to ignore lessons from the past."

"In June, a secretive unmanned Chinese spaceplane closely monitored by U.S. military analysts released a small satellite hundreds of miles above Earth in an orbital region crowded with commercial and military satellites. The object then looped around another Chinese satellite before returning towards the spaceplane, according to U.S. space-tracking firm LeoLabs. Little is known about the satellite or the mission. But the U.S. military operates a similarly secretive spaceplane resembling a small shuttle, also with no crew. Both programs reflect the rapidly evolving field of military space operations as Beijing and Washington prepare for the possibility of conflict extending into space, according to a Reuters review of documents, space-tracking data and interviews with current and former military officials."

"The next astronauts to walk near the Moon’s south pole will bring drills, rovers, spacesuits—and an unavoidable piece of Earth. Bacteria live on our skin and inside our bodies. Fungi settle into spacecraft and ventilation systems. Some of those organisms will almost certainly escape through airlocks, cling to equipment or shed from spacesuits onto the lunar surface. Scientists have long assumed the Moon would quickly destroy most microbial stowaways. After all, it’s barren, lifeless rock for a reason. But a new NASA-led study is here to say: 'Not so fast…'"

"It’s getting busy up there. Nearly 70 years after the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, there is more man-made material in space than ever before. The increasing quantity of satellites and debris in low-Earth orbit—roughly 100 to 1,200 miles above the planet—is raising concerns of collisions that could damage or destroy spacecraft and satellites. One worst-case fear is that debris could set off a chain reaction of crashes, leaving parts of low-Earth orbit unusable."

"Each of the sun-reflecting mirrors proposed by U.S.-based startup Reflect Orbital will appear 40 times brighter than the full moon to observers standing within its beam on Earth, a study has found. The light pollution produced by each of those mirrors would completely wipe out stars from the sky for those underneath them, turning the starry night into an eerie twilight zone. 'It will be worse than big cities like London,' Gaspar Bakos, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Princeton and one of the authors of the study, told Space.com. 'You would not see any stars if you were in the beam.'"

"The European Union told the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that it wants new norms of 'responsible behaviour' in outer space alongside future legally binding agreements to help prevent an arms race in space. Outer space is a 'global commons' that should be used for the benefit of all humankind, and keeping it peaceful is needed to protect access, safety and the long-term use of the space environment, the EU said, according to a statement from the EU Delegation to the UN in Geneva released on Friday. The bloc also reiterated that international law applies to activities in outer space, including the UN Charter and international humanitarian law, as set out in Article III of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty."

"What SpaceX has demonstrated so far is no doubt impressive. 'If everyone behaved like Starlink, you’d get a lot more satellites up there,' McKnight says. But there is no guarantee future constellations will be so refined or that SpaceX will maintain its current standards as it seeks ever increasing growth. Ultimately we might find that the capacity of Earth orbit, rather than being in the millions of spacecraft, may not be much more than the number of satellites already in orbit today."

"In 2024, NPR reported that the Environmental Protection Agency found that SpaceX had violated the Clean Water Act after tens of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater were discharged into the surrounding area. It's this kind of environmental concern that Hinojosa fears could increase with more rocket launches. Activists and several private land owners are concerned about the impact that the Starbase expansion will have in their community. Buckner... is opposed to the proposed annexation. She asks: Who will Starbase prioritize? Residents? Or SpaceX?"

"The Montreal Protocol produced a result that can be measured in the atmosphere. Nearly all controlled ozone-depleting substances have been phased out, and the ozone layer is expected to return towards its 1980 condition over the coming decades. Low-Earth orbit is now creating a different source of reactive material. Short-lived satellites vaporise metal as they reenter. Aluminium reacts with oxygen during that destruction, forming particles of aluminium oxide, usually called alumina. The concern is scientifically plausible, but its scale remains unsettled. Researchers have measured spacecraft metals in stratospheric aerosol, modelled alumina production during reentry and established the relevant surface chemistry."

"A US Air Force flight headed to Antarctica was forced to turn around on Tuesday after a notice was issued advising of potentially hazardous 'space activity'. The hulking C-17 Globemaster aircraft took off from Christchurch Airport using the call sign ICE28, which is used by the US for its Antarctic missions. It headed south but turned around and returned to Christchurch after just under two-and-a-half hours in the air. [T]he Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has since confirmed the aircraft turned around after a notice to airmen (NOTAM) was issued. The notice advised of 'space activity, potentially hazardous to aviation en route to Antarctica'. It is unclear what that space activity involved."

"From launchpads to low Earth orbit and beyond, space companies and their affiliates are deploying a familiar marketing tactic – with a new twist. In a space economy projected to reach US$1.8 trillion by 2035, they sell space exploration narratives by appealing to a desire to expand humankind beyond Earth – while downplaying or omitting the negative repercussions for Earth and the space environment. Welcome to the age of starwashing."

"Solar energy, at any time of day or night — that’s the dream of space mirror projects. More clean, renewable energy and help during a crisis — what’s not to like? If you ask astronomers, there are plenty of concerns. The satellite will be strikingly bright, with estimates placing the illumination as being as bright as Venus from outside the beam and four times as bright as the Moon within the beam. The consequences range from disrupting scientific observations to concerns over the safety of the public, including the potential for permanent eye damage for anyone unlucky enough to be using a telescope in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Most satellites launched into low Earth orbit operate on what's known as a decaying orbit. This means that when a satellite reaches the end of its lifespan, its orbit stops carrying it around the planet, and it eventually falls back to Earth's surface. The obvious concern is that the dead satellite would fall on something, but the good news is that satellites usually just burn up in the atmosphere, and if they do return to Earth, land in unpopulated areas like the ocean. However, there's some bad news too: All of that burnt-up metal may still be lingering in the atmosphere."

"The big crash was hidden from telescopes, but astronomers were able to confirm a derelict SpaceX rocket plowed into the moon last week. And that has once again ignited the debate around all the stuff we're firing off into space and sometimes into the moon. Thousands of defunct satellites, discarded rocket stages and the pieces that used to belong to them are orbiting the Earth. So when does all this space junk pose a problem? Is it already a problem? To get some answers, we called John Crassidis. He's a professor at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University at Buffalo."

"Weather forecasts and radio astronomy observations need better protections under a new Federal Communications Commission rule,  scientific societies warn. House Science Committee leaders are meanwhile opposing  the rule’s space operations requirements, saying they exceed the commission’s authority. The decision marks a win  for many commercial space organizations but provides insufficient protection for weather and astronomy data, according to scientific organizations that commented on the proposal. The American Astronomical Society, the American Meteorological Society, and others are continuing to meet with the FCC as the commission considers further changes."

"Four environmental organizations filed a petition Thursday asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reverse approval of a startup’s plan to beam on-demand sunlight from space to Earth, arguing the agency ignored the project’s potential impacts on wildlife, astronomy research and eye safety. ... 'It is the Wild West in space right now, and corporations like Reflect Orbital are rushing to fill the gap,' said Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman, who described the company’s proposal as 'a uniquely bad idea.'"

"SpaceX and the state of Louisiana are close to finalizing a deal for the launch company to acquire about 130,000 acres along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The deal would give SpaceX control of an 18-mile stretch of marshland southwest of Lafayette. The site, known as Pecan Island, became available as part of a legal settlement that resolves dozens of lawsuits that blame ExxonMobil for pollution and coastal land loss. ... A launch site in this area would raise significant environmental and logistical concerns and disrupt the local community."

"Russia has unveiled a new electronic warfare system designed to disrupt Starlink communications by interfering directly with satellites instead of attacking ground terminals. The system, dubbed Volna Kupol Garant, directs concentrated radio signals toward Starlink satellites, preventing them from receiving transmissions from users within its operating area. Russian officials say the approach temporarily interrupts communications without physically damaging spacecraft."

"For now, people are more likely to be struck by lightning than by falling space junk. The only documented case is of an Oklahoma woman who was hit by debris in the 1990s. She survived relatively unharmed. But those odds are shifting. A study for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration concluded that by 2035, debris from SpaceX satellites alone could kill or injure someone every two years. Sean O’Keefe, a Syracuse University professor and former NASA administrator, said: 'Humans have a lot of failure of imagination. We just can’t imagine that it will happen to us. All it’s got to do is show up in a major metropolitan area,' he added. Mr. O’Keefe and other experts say that governments and companies should be compelled to use materials that will fully disintegrate. No such regulation exists."

"The spacecraft rushing to the rescue of an aging and sinking NASA telescope has run into its own problem. Katalyst Space Technologies said Tuesday that its Link satellite is experiencing thruster problems and has gone into an uncontrollable spin that is disrupting communication. The trouble struck over the weekend, three weeks after the three-armed robotic spacecraft blasted into orbit. The startup company said it’s working nonstop to get Link back in action so it can capture Swift and boost the telescope to a higher orbit. Swift will crash back to Earth this fall without help. NASA is paying $30 million for the rescue effort, which was thrown together in under a year."

"As the demand for data centers in space grows, space experts are emphasizing the need for government action. In a Secure World Foundation space sustainability and orbital data centers panel, space experts discussed the need for adjusting government frameworks and updating regulations to meet the demand for data center satellites.."

"The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can single-handedly green-light massive spaceflight projects that could completely change the view of the night sky for the entire world. Despite the outcry these projects have caused, space law experts say there is very little other nations and the international community can do to thwart them if the FCC were to grant them licenses. ... Despite the massive growth in the past decade, the satellite industry is exempt from the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act, meaning neither the FCC nor the satellite companies are obliged to prove their technologies will not be detrimental to the environment. That exclusion was put in place in the 1980s when satellite launches were few and far between. Many argue it's more than a high time to do away with it. 'It's a regulatory failure,' [DarkSky International CEO Ruskin] Hartley said. 'The ultimate fix is probably a legislative fix, or an administration that directs them to act differently. But this administration is not going to do that.'"

"Space datacenters proposed by SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and others would release staggering levels of pollution that would probably alter the Earth’s atmosphere and be “catastrophic” for the planet, space industry experts and environmental groups warn in a new petition demanding a review of their impacts. Tech companies have collectively proposed millions of “orbital datacenters” and are pressing forward with plans, which require Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval. Among other issues, pollution from satellites and rockets burning up upon re-entry appears to be accumulating in the stratosphere at alarming levels. The spacecraft release black soot, rare metals, aluminum oxides and other pollutants with unknown effects. Some scientists fear the pollution could destroy the ozone layer, potentially expose some people to higher levels of ultraviolet radiation, or help further destabilize the planet during the climate crisis. The pollution could also end up back on Earth, and millions of satellites would create a major source of light pollution."

"The Trump Administration is seeking to slash the Office of Space Commerce budget by eighty percent while simultaneously asking Congress to approve a sweeping new framework for regulating commercial space activities. The House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics held a hearing on the Office of Space Commerce mission authorization proposal on July 15. The hearing revealed a fundamental contradiction at the heart of the administration's space policy. While the Commerce Department is pushing forward with an expansive new certification process for novel space activities, the White House budget request for fiscal year 2027 would slash the Office of Space Commerce to just eleven million dollars, an eighty percent cut from its current funding level. The tension played out as the subcommittee examined whether the agency has the resources to manage the new regulatory responsibilities being handed to it."

"In early July, the Australian Space Agency reported that objects recovered, dubbed 'space balls,' are likely pressure vessels from a space launch vehicle. Six spherical pieces of space junk were found in the small seaside community of Forrest Beach, near Ingham. Australian Queensland Fire Department crews swung into action to assist partner agencies following the discovery of the potentially hazardous objects. Scientific teams safely secured a number of the items, establishing a 165 feet (50-meter) "exclusion zone" around them to assure public safety. The nature and origin of the debris are still being investigated. This latest incident is part of an unwanted legacy of being the 'fall guy' for space remains."

"The fight continues against SpaceX's controversial South Texas land swap. That deal, which the company made with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), gives SpaceX 727 acres (294 hectares) of public land that's currently part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. In exchange, the company hands over 683 acres (276 hectares) of its territory in the area, not all of it contiguous, to the USFWS. Last month, a coalition of conservation and tribal groups sued the USFWS over the swap, saying it degrades the refuge and violates multiple laws, including the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997. And yesterday (July 20), those groups filed an emergency injunction, asking a federal judge to stop the exchange until the courts can rule on the ongoing case."

"California-based startup Reflect Orbital just got a license from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate its first demonstration satellite, a spacecraft that will unfurl a reflective surface that measures about 60 feet (18 meters) on a side. ... Not everybody is thrilled about Reflect Orbital's plans, however. Satellite megaconstellations in general are controversial. Some folks object to how they're changing the night sky, for example, and others worry that deorbiting huge numbers of satellites will pollute Earth's atmosphere with heavy metals. There are some specific concerns about Reflect Orbital's plans as well — namely, that it will introduce a new type of light pollution for people and ecosystems to deal with."

"he Federal Communications Commission has authorized radio operations for Eärendil-1, a demonstration satellite built around a reflector measuring roughly 18 metres by 18 metres. If it reaches orbit and unfolds successfully, the spacecraft will redirect a moving patch of sunlight onto the dark side of Earth. The distinction between this satellite and the system behind it matters. According to SpaceNews’ report on the authorization, the decision applies to Eärendil-1. It is not approval for the proposed constellation of as many as 50,000 reflectors that has alarmed astronomers."

"The Federal Communications Commission has approved Reflect Orbital's request to launch a demonstration satellite that can reflect sunlight to Earth at night. The new satellite had to go through FCC approval because of the radio spectrum it operates on, but the larger concern from scientists is how it could affect health and the environment while in use. ... The concept has not gone unchallenged by the scientific community. The FCC's memorandum opinion and order addresses multiple points of criticism of Reflect Orbital's demonstration satellite, most notably from the American Astronomical Society, who met with FCC staff to express their concerns."

"Despite a flood of objections, the FCC has approved a startup's plan to launch a controversial satellite that’ll use a giant mirror to reflect sunlight to Earth after dark. On Thursday, the FCC granted California-based Reflect Orbital permission to launch and operate the satellite in low-Earth orbit using the requested radio spectrum. The reflected light from the satellite is supposed to span an area about 3 miles wide on the ground. Reflect Orbital envisions operating over 50,000 satellites by 2035, effectively surrounding the Earth with a fleet of mirrors. The proposal has faced stiff pushback from environmental groups and astronomers who are concerned that the satellites will unleash intrusive light pollution. The opposition has been so strong that the FCC received over 1,800 public comments on the application, many of them objecting to Reflect Orbital’s plan for Earendil-1."

"Careless traffic and a soaring number of low Earth orbit satellites could trigger a catastrophic breakdown of global communications, weather monitoring, and GPS systems, a leading space expert warned on Thursday. Speaking at the 'Power Hour 44 Luncheon: Prioritising Safety: The Future of Space and The Low Altitude Economy', organised by the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Macau, Professor Quentin Parker highlighted the pressing risks of an increasingly crowded orbital ecosystem, warning that low Earth orbit is 'hugely crowded' and 'getting more and more crowded' by the day. 'If we don’t cure it, it’s going to kill the environment,' Parker said. 'By that I mean cascading catastrophic collapse of the entire low Earth orbit ecosystem.'"

"As corporations around the world continue to fill low-Earth orbit with megaconstellations, such collisions are increasingly likely. We have developed something called the CRASH Clock to measure this. It asks a simple question: if all satellites in orbit suddenly lost the ability to manoeuvre and control their orientation, how long would it take for two to come close enough to crash? In 2018, before megaconstellations began launching, the CRASH Clock value was 164 days. It has been steadily dropping since then. Our new research finds that as of May 2026, it is at 2.5 days."

"SaxaVord Spaceport on the island of Unst is applying for a licence to start dropping large, disused rocket components into the sea north of Shetland over the next 12 months. The application reveals that there is a 'significant risk' that the debris could hit tourist and fishing boats, posing a threat to life. The Shetland tourism industry however, flatly rejects the spaceport’s plans, and warns that sea dumping could be 'devastating' for some island businesses. A report by the Germany company Rocket Factory Augsburg, which is planning the first launch from SaxaVord later this year, makes clear that discarded rocket parts will not be recovered from the sea. They will be left to sink to the seabed where, it argues, they could become 'artificial reefs' and benefit marine wildlife. The firm also claims there will be no “justified demand from the public” to remove them."

"NASA's plan to deorbit the International Space Station in coming years has fallen under the scrutiny of a government watchdog group and stirred up a wave of reaction by a leading ocean conservation organization. The Ocean Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-headquartered group with a mission to improve global ocean health and the human relationship with the sea via carefully chosen strategies and projects, says the planned deorbit of the International Space Station "raises serious concerns for ocean health that the space community has not adequately grappled with," according to Mark Spalding, president of the foundation."

"NASA’s plan to de-orbit the International Space Station in coming years has fallen under the scrutiny of a government watchdog group. That action has stirred up a wave of reaction by a leading ocean conservation organization. Taking a nose-up position on the prospect of nose-diving the ISS is the Ocean Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-headquartered group with a mission to improve global ocean health and the human relationship with the sea via carefully chosen strategies and projects. 'We believe this gap in international law needs to be closed, and the ISS de-orbit is a vivid illustration of why,' says the chief of Ocean Foundation."

"The upper stage from a commercial Chinese rocket that launched last week has broken apart in space, spreading debris in a heavily trafficked part of low-Earth orbit home to the International Space Station and a significant portion of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network. The breakup occurred shortly after the Zhuque-2E rocket reached orbit on June 9 with two satellites providing direct-to-cell communications, perhaps around the time the upper stage was expected to perform a disposal burn. The uppermost part of this orbit crosses the orbit of the International Space Station, but aerodynamic drag will quickly pull all the debris fragments below the ISS. The debris could pose a greater threat to hundreds of Starlink satellites, particularly those providing direct-to-device connectivity and newly launched satellites, which fly at lower altitudes than the bulk of the Starlink constellation."

"The starry night sky has always anchored humanity’s sense of place in a vast universe. It’s a map guiding travelers, a calendar for migrations and harvests, a wellspring of stories. But a surge of commercial satellite launches into the upper fringes of Earth’s atmosphere threatens the relationship between people and the celestial commons by crowding the night sky and polluting the atmosphere, scientists warn. ... 'We are teetering on the precipice of how the uses of space are changing, and that threatens our ability to use space,' said astronomer and dark sky policy expert John Barentine, who co-founded the Center for Space Environmentalism in 2025."

"As SpaceX gears up to start launching orbital data center spacecraft as soon as next year, astronomers warn those satellites could cause serious interference with their observations. The high launch rates required to build out and later replenish the constellation will create “bright lanes” that will exist continuously in low Earth orbit. Even in their higher operational orbits, the satellites can create glints as bright as Venus, with an average magnitude of about 0. Those glints would interfere with time-domain astronomy, which monitors dynamic events like supernovas and gamma-ray bursts."

"Putting data centers in space would solve two of the biggest problems facing AI companies in the US today: 7 in 10 Americans don’t want data centers built where they live, and these centers use a staggering amount of electricity and water. But while Musk likes to remind people there’s plenty of room in space, scientists have already raised alarms about the dangers of overcrowding in our current satellite ecosystem: ozone depletion from an unsustainably high number of maneuvers and even debris from satellites falling back to Earth. What happens if we go from our current count of 15,000 satellites to 1 million?"

"The foundation of global space law that has governed human activity outside Earth for nearly six decades may be approaching a breaking point, according to a new analysis by two astronomers who argue that the legal framework created during the Cold War is inadequate for an era of commercial spaceflight, global political instability, and growing militarization of orbit. The study, published in Frontiers in Space Technologies, argues that the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST), long regarded as the foundation of peaceful space exploration, confronts mounting challenges from transforming global power shifts, increasing orbital competition, and the emergence of private companies as dominant players in space activities."

"At the 2026 European Geosciences Union held May 3-8 in Vienna, Austria, panelists raised questions about the atmospheric impacts of spacecraft launches and re-entries, along with research and policy priorities to promote environmental sustainability for space. Jack Burns, associate director of the Colorado Space Policy Center, said that a lack of international regulations to curb debris growth and sustain the space environment creates ambiguities. 'Countries seem empowered to do whatever they want to do. Who is going to control and regulate in this international environment that we have evolved into?' Burns told SpaceNews."

"A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday night, in a major setback for Blue Origin, the company founded by Jeff Bezos. The rocket erupted in a giant fire ball that engulfed the launch pad at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 UTC) as the engines appeared to be igniting for a pre-launch test known as a static fire. New Glenn had been slated to launch a batch of satellites for another Bezos venture, Amazon Leo, as soon as Thursday, June 4. 'All personnel are accounted for and safe. It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,' Bezos wrote in a post on social media. 'Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.'"

"Up until a decade ago, China had never launched as many as 20 orbital rockets a year. But beginning in 2022, the Asian country launched 64 rockets and last year reached a record total of 93, marking it as the second-most productive space power in the world. Further growth is anticipated from both the company’s state-owned enterprises as well as a rapidly expanding number of private launch companies. There is nothing wrong with this, as China’s rapid growth in launch has been mirrored by the United States and, in particular, SpaceX. However there is an issue with these launches, as China appears to be ignoring long-established norms about disposing of the upper stages of rockets. These are the parts of the vehicle that separate from the first stage of a rocket and push a satellite or spacecraft into orbit."

"A study published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences analyzed 17 low-Earth-orbit debris objects across solar cycles 22, 23 and 24, using more than 36 years of two-line element data, sunspot numbers, F10.7 radio flux and EUV flux. The authors found that decay rates rose sharply when sunspot numbers exceeded about 67% to 75% of the cycle peak. The timing is awkward for the satellite industry. Low Earth orbit is no longer a sparse operating environment. In a mega-constellation era, the same solar-driven process can act as both a cleanup mechanism and an operational stress test."

"Missing data is a problem for scientists trying to explain the Earth's climate to politicians and business leaders who make decisions on what to do about climate change. While the data loss is currently small, scientists say the problem will only get worse over time as space debris increases. 'Things will get worse before they get better,' said the NASA scientists in the 2018 report that assessed debris maneuvers. The report found that the risk of a collision between an EOS satellite and a piece of orbital debris is increasing."

"Studies show that since the beginning of the mega-constellation era in 2020, concentrations of potentially dangerous high-altitude air pollution stemming from satellite launches and re-entries has significantly increased. Based on estimates described by researchers as 'conservative', the global space sector will have released by 2030 more climate-altering chemicals into the atmosphere than the entire United Kingdom. If the growth envisioned by the space industry leaders comes to pass, this air pollution, mostly concentrated in higher layers of the atmosphere, will at some point begin altering Earth's climate."

"The potent pollution from so-called megaconstellation satellite systems launched en masse into space since 2019 will account for nearly half (42%) of the total climate impact of space sector pollution by the end of the decade, finds a new study led by University College London researchers. As described in Earth's Future, the research team examined air pollution produced by the growing number of rocket launches, and the discarded rocket bodies and dead satellites falling back to Earth. The black carbon (soot) generated from these sources lingers in the upper atmosphere far longer than that from ground-based sources, resulting in a 500-fold greater impact on the climate. The research also found that the potent air pollution generated by the launch and reentry of large, disposable satellite systems is rapidly accumulating in the upper atmosphere, decreasing the amount of sunlight reaching Earth's surface. By 2029, the accumulating pollution will have an effect similar to proposed geoengineering techniques, which aim to cool the planet by blocking some sunlight with particles injected into the upper atmosphere."

"Ultrabright satellite constellations planned to launch in the next decade could make the sky three times brighter, threatening to ruin all-sky surveys like those planned for the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a new study warns. To prevent this, satellite operators will have to follow strict size and brightness restrictions, according to the study, which was uploaded to the preprint server arXiv but has not been peer-reviewed. ... [T]he worst-case scenario involves superbright Reflect Orbital-type satellites. The model showed that a constellation of 50,000 of these satellites ‪—‬ similar to the company's 2035 vision ‪—‬ may make the night sky three times as bright as it is now, rendering the LSST Camera's images worthless."

"Earth used to look pretty nice, until all the trash arrived. But now, having already strewn plastic waste across land and sea, humanity has turned its gaze to the stars. Specifically, the U.S. and China are in a race to put astronauts back on the Moon. And where our proud species goes, blessed with intellect and reason, so too goes our trash. Space is getting congested with man-made creations at an exponential rate, as the number of rocket launches per year goes through, well, the atmosphere. If the throwaway stages of these rockets aren't handled with proper diligence, the odds of them going where they shouldn't go up, too. Fortunately, these things are mostly designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere if they come this way. But if they get caught by the Moon, the airless celestial body just has to receive them as trash."

"A senior astronomer has warned that NASA’s Artemis program must not become a vehicle for unregulated commercial activity in space, arguing that the return of humans to the moon should be governed by clear international rules — rather than a 'frontier mentality.' Responding to this week's launch of the Artemis II mission to circle the moon, Mike Lockwood — president of the U.K.'s Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) and professor of space environment physics at the University of Reading — said that the growing commercial interest surrounding the program risked undermining existing space law if such is not properly controlled. 'The commercialization of Artemis II is mainly in the form of the services supplied to support the mission, but there is talk about the Artemis program paving the way for mining of the moon,” Lockwood said in a statement. 'This would be contrary to international law.'"

"For the second time in three months, a SpaceX satellite has failed and broken up over Earth, highlighting concerns over the company’s plan to increase its network to more than a million satellites. The Elon Musk-owned company said on X that 'satellite 34343 experienced an anomaly on-orbit, resulting in loss of communications with the satellite at ~560 km above Earth.' Leolabs, a space monitoring firm, said its radar network 'immediately detected tens of objects in the vicinity of the satellite after the event.' The mishap comes as critics blast SpaceX’s plan to create a new constellation of up to a million satellites to be used as space-based data centers. The firm applied to the Federal Communications Commission in January to create what it’s calling the 'SpaceX Orbital Data Center system.'"

"The surge in orbital activity has created a significant collision risk. There have already been crashes, including a 2009 event where a US satellite hit a defunct Russia military satellite. Tens of thousands of tiny fragments of metal are now spinning at high velocities. The big fear is that future collisions will cause a domino effect where Earth’s orbit becomes cluttered with tiny, high-speed bits of metal. That could create a near-impenetrable layer of debris that would make space launches so dangerous it would essentially trap humans on Earth."

"NASA pulled off the moon landing in 1969 with a clear goal from the outset: to be the first nation to put boots on the lunar surface. The US was locked in a space race with the Soviet Union, and the Apollo 11 landing helped cement America’s lead in the competition to be the reigning geopolitical superpower in the depths of the Cold War. Now, NASA is heading back with its Artemis program. As early as April 1, the agency will send a crew of four around the moon as a precursor for a landing this decade. But why spend nearly $100 billion to repeat a journey NASA has already made? The goal of Artemis is less obvious than that of Apollo — so much so that the justification for NASA’s lunar return largely depends on who is answering the question."

"An array of man-made satellites beam sunlight down to Earth. An artificial constellation of thousands of satellites illuminates the night sky. These scenarios might sound like science fiction. But between SpaceX’s plans to launch 1 million satellites as part of its satellite-based internet network Starlink, and Reflect Orbital’s sunlight reflecting space mirrors, private companies could change the way our night sky looks. In fact, it could look more like daytime. For life on Earth, which relies on a traditional day-night cycle, that could spell disaster, experts said."

"A dramatic rise in the number of satellites on orbit is increasing the amount of space debris, posing a critical threat to the capabilities of America’s national space systems, Maj. Gen. Chris Povak, deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, said Monday. 'The future gets more complex, not less. More satellites, more debris, more competition,' he said. 'Managing these challenges simultaneously continues to be priority number one for this community, to ensure that we continue to fulfill our mission to the American people.'"

"AI systems could soon be able to hijack satellites in orbit and cause them to collide with other spacecraft, potentially triggering a dangerous cascade of smash-ups that could render the environment around Earth unsafe for years, according to experts. Cyber security researchers are already using AI to identify so-called zero-day vulnerabilities — yet undiscovered security holes in code — to alert operators and help them patch the problems before hackers could exploit them. But attackers, too, can take advantage of those advanced systems to find those holes more quickly."

"As of today, more than 10,000 active Starlink satellites are in space, constituting about two thirds of all satellites that are currently in orbit. That’s a number that would have seemed unbelievable just a decade ago—and a rate of growth that experts are still struggling to comprehend. 'Starlink has changed our relationship with space,' says Hugh Lewis, a space debris expert at the University of Birmingham in England. 'The character of the night sky is no longer the same as it once was, and I’m not sure it will ever be again.'"

"SpaceX's plan to launch one million orbiting data centers to space worries astronomers,who say the satellite streaks caused by the proposed constellation would severely impair observations. Just as astronomers began to learn how to coexist with broadband megaconstellations in low Earth orbit (LEO), such as SpaceX's Starlink, a new threat has emerged, causing significant concerns. Elon Musk's envisioned constellation of one million orbital data centers would result in possibly tens of thousands of moving objects as bright as stars that are visible in the night sky at any given moment, even to the naked eye."

"The Trump administration is backing off a rule aimed at stopping commercial space companies from leaving rocket bodies in Earth’s orbit, a practice that experts say could threaten public safety and telecommunications. The Federal Aviation Administration first proposed the measure in 2023, under the Biden administration, in hopes of curbing the growing junkyard of debris circling the planet. It would have required companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX to safely remove such spacecraft within 25 years of launch, saying they 'pose a significant risk to people on the ground due to their mass and the uncertainty of where they will land.' ... SpaceX and other companies, however, criticized the proposal, citing concerns that included its cost, and in January, the FAA nixed the rule, saying the agency needs more time to research it. "

"A start-up company wants to light up the night with 50,000 big mirrors orbiting Earth, bouncing sunlight to the night side of the planet to power solar farms after sunset, provide lighting for rescue workers and illuminate city streets, among other things. Scientists have questions about that. ... Opponents say the mirrors could distract airplane pilots, mess up astronomical observations and interfere with circadian rhythms — the light-and-dark cycles that help people, creatures and plants know when to wake and sleep, when to bloom, when to migrate and so forth."

"Most of humanity has a great propensity to think in the short-term, but generally, long-term considerations — air pollution, deforestation and emissions, for example — just aren't our thing. That's partly why scientists are deeply concerned about a recent SpaceX proposal to launch one million satellites — data centres — into orbit around Earth. Their concerns range from losing the natural night sky, to losing access to space, to the environmental impact on our atmosphere."

"In a study published in Nature Sustainability, aerospace engineers at MIT found that decreasing density reduces atmospheric drag – a force that pulls old satellites and other debris down to altitudes where they will encounter molecules and safely burn up. By simulating how carbon emissions affect orbital dynamics, the team estimated the satellite-carrying capacity of low Earth orbit. Their findings are stark: by 2100, the number of satellites that can safely occupy popular orbital regions could shrink by 50 to 66 per cent compared to year-2000 emission levels. The upper atmosphere is in a fragile state, says lead author William Parker. ‘This shift is colliding with a massive surge in satellite launches, particularly from mega-constellations such as SpaceX’s Starlink. The study warns that if we exceed orbital capacity, we could trigger 'runaway instability' – a cascade of collisions creating so much debris that satellites can no longer safely operate.'"

"Constant space launches are turning the atmosphere into a 'crematorium' for satellites and other space debris. That was the warning from a trio of astronomers and atmospheric scientists in a new essay for The Conversation, which outlines the grim consequences of populating the Earth’s orbit with tens of thousands of expendable satellites. Satellites, they write, 'have become part of throwaway culture.' Companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX design their satellites to last no more than a few years, after which they’re supposed to push themselves out of orbit and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.It’s a tidy approach in theory, but one that could in reality be seeding the atmosphere with harmful particulates."

"Here in the 21st century, we humans are on the cusp of turning night into day — and bidding good night to the stars that have guided us home for thousands of years. Two little-noted applications under review by the Federal Communications Commission would, if fully implemented, fundamentally remake the night sky. But the FCC, the satellite regulator, appears to have fast-tracked approval without much of a pause to weigh the benefits of these proposals against the harms they could cause to life on the planet."

"Elon Musk's space technology company, SpaceX, recently asked the U.S. government for permission to launch 1 million satellites. The idea is to put solar-powered data centers into orbit, an ambition shared by other tech giants. But Earth's orbit is already packed with spacecraft and space junk. And greenhouse gas emissions are affecting the upper atmosphere in ways that could significantly increase the clutter in space. By the end of the century, half as many satellites might safely fit in Earth's orbit, researchers have found. ... These proposals have drawn scorn from critics who say orbital data centers would be too costly and technologically out of reach."

"Across regions and borders, cultures and customs, the one thing we share is the night sky. Access to the night sky is a crucial part of our scientific, religious, and cultural practices across the globe. Right now, one government agency has the power to completely alter the night sky as we know it. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, is the government agency that authorizes and regulates the use of space-based satellites. The FCC is currently reviewing two major satellite proposals that have the potential to cause great harm to our access to the night sky. In this astrobite, we discuss these two proposals, how the environmental review policy of the FCC got us here, and our recommendations on how we can prevent these proposals from passing.."

"It often comes as a surprise that outer space is not as regulated as many people think. The extent of space laws is found in the Outer Space Treaty, a two-page document from 1967 that regulates the activity of states beyond the Earth. 'States' is a pretty important word there, as the changes happening in outer space today are mostly driven by private corporations. In the United States, it is up to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to authorize satellite launches and operations. The agency is now looking at two proposals that could massively affect the night sky. One is mirrors in space that would reflect sunlight on demand during the night. The other, from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is an unprecedented request for a 1-million-satellite megaconstellation. Either proposal would affect the natural darkness of the planet in dramatic ways."

"New research published Thursday bolsters growing concerns that a handful of companies and countries are using the global atmospheric commons as a dumping ground for potentially toxic and climate-altering industrial waste byproducts from loosely regulated commercial space flights. ... International agreements covering rocket pollution include the Outer Space Treaty and Liability Convention. They require countries to avoid harmful contamination and to accept responsibility for damage caused by their space objects. Those principles are reflected by several International Court of Justice rulings and opinions on preventing cross-border environmental harm. Debris and atmospheric pollution from space launches disperses globally, affecting many nations that do not launch rockets at all."

"SpaceX can land its rockets in The Bahamas again — and will do so very soon, if all goes according to plan. On Tuesday (Feb. 17), the Civil Aviation Authority of The Bahamas (CAA-B) approved the resumption of Falcon 9 first-stage touchdowns in the nation's waters. The decision ended a lengthy review spurred by a test flight mishap with SpaceX's Starship megarocket, which rained debris down on parts of the island nation nearly a year ago."

"As more and more satellite megaconstellations continue to be launched into Earth orbit, some researchers are beginning to calculate the chances that people on the surface could be struck by the incoming remnants of these spacecraft reentering the atmosphere. A new study by a team of Canadian researchers looks into eleven different megaconstellations and what would happen during their fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere. What are the charred, declarative results? They find that there's a 40% collective risk of on-ground casualties if satellites do not burn up entirely."

"AST SpaceMobile has successfully unfolded its massive 2,400 square-foot satellite in orbit as the company tries to challenge SpaceX’s cellular Starlink service. On Tuesday, AST SpaceMobile posted a picture of the satellite’s antenna array fully deployed, weeks after it flew into space in late December. Dubbed BlueBird 6, the satellite 'features the largest commercial communications array antenna ever deployed in Low Earth Orbit,' AST added in the announcement."

"Low Earth orbit is filling with satellites, and space telescopes are beginning to notice. A new study published in Nature finds that reflections from large satellite constellations could interfere with most images taken by some current and future space observatories. Because these missions rely on long exposures to detect extremely faint objects, even brief satellite crossings can hide objects or reduce the amount of usable data scientists collect. ... Low Earth orbit now supports both expanding commercial networks and major astronomical observatories. As satellite deployment continues, unwanted reflected light will become a structural feature of the space environment — one that future missions must plan for from the outset."

"Chinese scientists have developed a compact ultra-powerful energy generator, paving the way for next-generation weapons that could one day be turned on satellite swarms like SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. High-power microwave weapons have gained traction in recent years as a low-cost alternative to missiles and guns due to their near-unlimited firing capacity. Researchers in the US, Russia, and China in particular have all been investigating whether the technology could be developed into directed-energy weapons that can disrupt satellites."

"A race to secure regulatory approval for data centers in space is emerging, with a US startup called Starcloud submitting a proposal to the FCC for a constellation of up to 88,000 satellites—shortly after SpaceX filed plans to launch up to one million satellites. Starcloud has already launched a fridge-sized satellite equipped with an Nvidia H100 enterprise GPU to test the space-based data center approach. It successfully trained a lightweight, open-source AI model in orbit and ran a chatbot. But SpaceX has been grabbing the headlines. ... The filings point to a possible surge in satellite applications if other rival companies decide to pursue the concept on a wider scale."

"We are slowly, but steadily, losing our night skies. Not content to pollute our planet’s natural environments, private corporations and governments have their sights set on choking the skies with more and more satellites. With the launch of Russia’s Sputnik (Russian for 'fellow traveller') satellite in 1957, the first human-made satellite, the Space Age commenced. Since then, the number of satellites placed into Earth orbit has steadily increased. By 2022, more than 14,000 satellites had been launched, the vast majority of which are still active. However, this number has only continued to grow as several large, private communication corporations have recently begun launching satellites in ever-increasing numbers."

"SpaceX is requesting to launch up to one million satellites to create a network of orbiting data centers around Earth. Late on Friday, the company filed the request with the Federal Communications Commission, describing the project as a “constellation of satellites with unprecedented computing capacity to power advanced artificial intelligence (‘AI’) models and the applications that rely on them.” The plan is shocking in its scope, and would dwarf the existing Starlink constellation, which currently spans over 9,600 satellites in Earth’s orbit. ...However, the request for one million satellites appears to be unprecedented and will likely face intense scrutiny from the FCC, along with critics and rivals."

"SpaceX has formally acquired another one of Elon Musk’s companies, xAi, the space company announced on Monday afternoon. The merging of what is arguably Musk’s most successful company, SpaceX, with the more speculative xAI venture is a risk. Founded in 2023, xAI’s main products are the generative AI chatbot Grok and the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. The company aims to compete with OpenAI and other artificial intelligence firms. However, Grok has been controversial, including the sexualization of women and children through AI-generated images, as has Musk’s management of Twitter."

"We are only a month into 2026, yet it’s already clear what one of the major space stories of the year is going to be: mega-constellations, and the ongoing attempts to launch thousands of satellites into Earth’s orbit. The latest development is that SpaceX has asked the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to launch 1 million orbital data centre satellites. The request is unprecedented. The previous largest filing with the FCC, also by SpaceX, was for 42,000 Starlink satellites in 2019."

"Mobile networks have been asked to check the UK’s emergency alert system over concerns that fragments of a Chinese rocket could land in Britain. Government officials are monitoring debris from the rocket, which is heading towards the Earth and has a remote chance of hitting the UK. Britain’s mobile networks have now been asked to check that their emergency alert system is operational, in case the debris crashes in Britain and a message needs to be sent to people living near to the impact site. A spokesman told The Telegraph that it was 'extremely unlikely' that the space junk would enter British airspace and stressed that emergency systems were “tested routinely” with partners, including mobile networks. However, officials are understood to be closely monitoring the Chinese Zhuque-3 (ZQ-3) rocket, which launched in early December and was expected to re-enter the atmosphere around midday on Friday."

"We’re solidly in the era of the LEO megaconstellation, and the number of satellites in an increasingly congested orbital plane just keeps climbing. We’re not fearmongering here, but putting more stuff in LEO ups the odds that a collision may occur—and bring with it serious financial and geopolitical implications. This week, the World Economic Forum came out with a report, produced in partnership with the Centre for Space Futures, the Saudi Space Agency, LeoLabs, and Novaspace, titled 'Clear Orbit, Secure Future: A Call to Action on Space Debris.' The report’s findings are, well, expensive. Even without any major collisions in orbit, WEF’s orbital population model projects that congestion in space will cost industry between $25.8B and $42.3B over the next decade. A destructive collision would send that number skyrocketing."

"The sky is getting crowded. In the last few years, the number of satellite launches has increased by an order of magnitude as mega-constellations of internet-powering hardware crowd into low Earth orbit. Because these satellites are relatively inexpensive and the technology is rapidly improving, many are scuttled after just five or 10 years: directed to reenter the atmosphere and burn up so they don’t clutter the valuable real estate a few hundred miles above Earth. Those burning satellites release a mix of heavy metal and carbon particles that float down closer to Earth, into the otherwise chemically stable stratosphere – where airplanes fly, weather patterns are shaped, and ozone screens our planet."

"Satellites are the foundation of modern civilization. Global navigation systems, aviation safety, financial transactions, disaster management, and defense operations all depend on space-based services. As dependency on space infrastructure has increased, attacks on it show the emergence of a new silent modern conflict. During the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia jammed GPS signals that were used by civilian aircraft and iinterfered with the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine. The commercial satellite network has been experiencing jamming, spoofing, and cyber-attacks, thus indicating a new mode of warfare that is glaringly unregulated. International accords, including the Outer Space Treaty (OST) and the UN Charter, falter in the face of this emerging, formidable new threat. There is no clear treaty or rules that ban non-kinetic ASAT attacks. Non-kinetic ASATs are weapons that are not physically destructive; these attacks leave no debris, make the attacker difficult to identify, and are sometimes reversible. While kinetic ASATs destroy the satellite, creating a cloud of debris, non-kinetic ASATs silently kill it, making such weapons less susceptible to legal regulation and thus raising the imperative need for such a legal framework."

"Reducing the amount of debris orbiting Earth in space requires more international cooperation, the acting CEO of the Saudi Space Agency said at a Riyadh event on Monday. Speaking at the opening address of the Space Debris Conference 2026, Dr. Mohammed Al-Tamimi highlighted the importance of tackling waste orbiting the planet. Al-Tamimi said: 'Addressing space debris challenges requires strengthened international cooperation and the development of innovative, effective solutions that reduce risks and ensure the sustainability of the space environment.' Near-Earth space was experiencing a rapid increase in the number of orbiting objects that posed growing challenges to the safety of space operations and long-term sustainability of orbital activities, Al-Tamimi added. Up to $42 billion of economic losses could be caused by space debris by 2035, according to a paper published by the Centre for Space Futures in collaboration with the World Economic Forum during Monday’s conference."

"A report filed by SpaceX with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in late December reveals some startling information – including that its Starlink satellites had to perform about 300,000 collision-avoidance manoeuvres in 2025. In its latest report SpaceX said that its Starlink satellites performed about 149,000 collision-avoidance manoeuvres from June to November 2025. Such manoeuvres are performed when two satellites are deemed to be passing too close to each other and have a reasonable risk of collision."

"China has applied to launch nearly 200,000 satellites into Earth orbit, but the move may be an attempt at merely reserving orbital space rather than a genuine effort to build the largest mega-constellation in existence. On December 29, the newly formed Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilisation and Technological Innovation in China filed proposals for two satellite constellations with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations body that allocates spectrum in space. Staking this claim with the ITU means that other satellite operators filing to launch into the same orbits must demonstrate to the ITU that they will not interfere with their operations. Under ITU rules, at least one satellite must be launched seven years after China’s initial filing, with another seven years then allowed to finish launching all the proposed satellites. But even if the application is genuine, achieving it seems to be almost impossible. China launched 92 rockets in 2025, a record for the nation, but would need to launch more than 500 satellites a week to deploy 200,000 in seven years, requiring hundreds, if not thousands, of launches a year."

"SpaceX's plan to launch an additional 15,000 satellites for its Starlink cellular system has sparked opposition and concern from rival companies and environmentalists, who are weighing in after the FCC opened a public comment period on the proposed constellation. Currently, SpaceX has FCC clearance to orbit about 12,000 satellites. Its cellular Starlink service uses approximately 650 satellites, but it faces bandwidth constraints. The new constellation promises to upgrade the service, enabling it to beam 5G connectivity to phones worldwide for improved video calls and high-speed downloads. In total, however, SpaceX wants about 49,000 satellites in Earth’s orbit, if you consider all of its satellite plans for Starlink, according to rival satellite provider Viasat. 'This proposed expansion of SpaceX's operating authority would give [SpaceX] an even greater ability and incentive to foreclose other operators from accessing and using limited orbital and spectrum resources on a competitive basis,' Viasat wrote in a letter to the FCC."

"Starlink will begin a reconfiguration of its satellite constellation by lowering all of its satellites orbiting at around 550 km (342 miles) to 480 km over the course of 2026, Michael Nicolls, SpaceX's vice president of Starlink engineering, said on Thursday. The company is looking to increase space safety by lowering the satellites' orbit. This comes after Starlink said in December that one of its satellites experienced an anomaly in space, creating a "small" amount of debris and cutting off communications with the spacecraft at 418 km in altitude, a rare kinetic accident in orbit for the satellite internet giant. The company had said the satellite, one of nearly 10,000 in space for its broadband internet network, quickly fell four kilometers in altitude, suggesting some kind of explosion occurred on board."

"The growing amount of space debris in Earth’s orbit poses a real and current threat to vital satellite services, such as telecommunications and navigation, as well as crucial weather and climate data collection. Over 1.1 million pieces of debris larger than 1 centimeter are currently zooming around Earth at 18,000 MPH, and scientists are only tracking about 30,000 pieces of that trash. All this junk poses a serious risk. If we don’t keep space clean, future missions – weather satellites, aGPS systems, internet services, even space travel – debris could knock missions off course or shut them down completely."

"A Starlink satellite has suffered a malfunction that caused it to eject a small amount of debris into Earth’s orbit, according to SpaceX. Launched on Nov. 23, the Starlink satellite, 35956, 'experienced an anomaly' on Wednesday while orbiting the Earth at 418 kilometers, 'resulting in loss of communications,' SpaceX tweeted. It's unclear exactly what happened, but 'the anomaly led to venting of the propulsion tank, a rapid decay in semi-major axis by about 4 km, and the release of a small number of trackable low relative velocity objects,' SpaceX says. The statement raises questions about whether the satellite experienced a minor explosion or was struck by something. It also suggests the satellite can no longer maneuver with its built-in propulsion, even if contact is re-established."

"Tech billionaires have been obsessed with space for a long time. Now, as the largest AI companies race to build more data centers in a frenzied pursuit of profitability, space is looking less like a pet project and more like a commercial opportunity. In 2025 alone, six proposals for giant AI data centers needing multiple gigawatts of power — a capacity only rumored of in 2024 — have been announced. Earthlings are catching on to the fact that power-hungry data centers take up land and water, while providing few jobs, too much pollution, and rising electricity costs. Hence the idea to put the data centers in orbit around the Earth, not on the Earth. Space-based data centers — in the form of satellites with solar panels — are Big Tech’s latest fad and Silicon Valley’s newest investable venture. In space, they theorize, the sun’s unlimited rays could provide endless amounts of energy to power your latest AI-generated Sora video. But it’s not likely to be that easy."

"Humanity needs to start addressing the growing space junk problem now, before it gets out of hand, scientists stress. Earth orbit is getting more and more crowded, with both active satellites and pieces of debris. There's so much stuff up there that it's far from alarmist to start worrying about the Kessler syndrome, a nightmare scenario in which a collision or two leads to many more, vastly increasing the amount of junk circling our planet. 'We have to get serious about this and recognize that, unless we do something, we are in imminent danger of making a whole part of our Earth environment unusable,' Dan Baker, director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder (UC-Boulder), said in a panel Wednesday (Dec. 11) at the 2024 meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Washington, D.C."

"Humanity needs to start addressing the growing space junk problem now, before it gets out of hand, scientists stress. Earth orbit is getting more and more crowded, with both active satellites and pieces of debris. There's so much stuff up there that it's far from alarmist to start worrying about the Kessler syndrome, a nightmare scenario in which a collision or two leads to many more, vastly increasing the amount of junk circling our planet. 'We have to get serious about this and recognize that, unless we do something, we are in imminent danger of making a whole part of our Earth environment unusable,' Dan Baker, director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder (UC-Boulder), said in a panel Wednesday (Dec. 11) at the 2024 meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Washington, D.C."

"One of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites just dodged a bullet in orbit. That bullet was one of the nine spacecraft that launched atop a Chinese Kinetica 1 rocket on Tuesday (Dec. 9) from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. It zoomed dangerously close to a Starlink satellite, according to SpaceX, which was none too pleased with the close shave. 'As far as we know, no coordination or deconfliction with existing satellites operating in space was performed, resulting in a 200-meter close approach between one of the deployed satellites and STARLINK-6079 (56120) at 560 km altitude. Most of the risk of operating in space comes from the lack of coordination between satellite operators — this needs to change," Michael Nicolls, vice president of Starlink engineering at SpaceX, said via X on Friday evening (Dec. 12).'"

"The surge in megasatellite constellations is creating problems beyond amplifying the Earth-circling space debris, according to new research. Reentering spacecraft and rocket stages may also be damaging Earth’s atmosphere, as well as increasing the risk of space waste hitting the Earth. New research posted to the preprint database ArXiv finds that 'space waste,' spacecraft reentering the atmosphere, injects a considerable amount of its matter into the mesosphere and lower thermosphere — enough to potentially weaken the Earth’s ozone layer. [T]he study found that reentering 'transition metals' — such as titanium and copper, known for their catalytic properties and used in spacecraft and rocket stages — can create 'long-term adverse effects on the atmosphere such as ozone depletion, radiative effects and changes in cloud formation, if no action is taken.' Also, stainless steels and other metallic elements are used in engineered-for-space hardware, such as fuel tanks, electronic assemblies, nozzles and thrusters, actuators, the paper explains. Aluminum is the main element in space waste, and the scientists say its potential impacts are worth studying further."

"The number of satellites in orbit is growing at a tremendous rate, but we don't yet have a good understanding of how susceptible they are to solar storms – and that problem is only going to get worse. Since May 2019, SpaceX has launched more than 10,000 satellites into its Starlink space internet mega constellation, although about 1000 of these have re-entered Earth's atmosphere at a current rate of one or two a day. The satellites are deployed in a giant mesh around the planet, encompassing pretty much the entire globe. This means a solar storm and its accompanying geomagnetic storm, when our planet's magnetic field fluctuates in response to charged particles and magnetic fields from the sun, is likely to influence at least some of the satellites, no matter when it occurs."

"For astronomers, the sky isn’t exactly falling—yet the sky-high ambitions of tech companies seeking profits in Earth orbit and beyond are becoming too disruptive to ignore. SpaceX’s Starlink Internet service, built with thousands of telescope-photobombing satellites, is the poster child for this problematic trend, but it’s not alone. The latest start-up with brash out-of-this-world plans is Reflect Orbital, which has built a business case for beaming sunlight from orbit to power solar farms after dark. The company, based in Hawthorne, Calif., next to SpaceX’s former headquarters, recently sought a license from the Federal Communications Commission to launch its first satellite in 2026 and plans to put thousands more in orbit. Maybe that could work. But experts have technological, environmental and safety concerns."

"The return to Earth of three Chinese astronauts has been delayed until an unspecified date after their spacecraft was apparently struck by a small piece of debris, according to Chinese state media. The three astronauts from the Shenzhou-20 mission flew to the Tiangong space station in April, and were expected to return on Wednesday at the end of a six month mission. Their replacements, the crew of Shenzhou-21, had already arrived on the weekend. 'The Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft is suspected to have been struck by a small piece of orbital debris, and assessment of the impact and associated risks is currently under way,' said the China Manned Space Agency in a statement. 'To ensure the health and safety of the astronauts and the successful completion of the mission, it has been decided that the originally planned return of Shenzhou-20 on November 5 will be postponed.'"

"The Federal Communications Commission voted Oct. 28 to propose creating a modular 'licensing assembly line' that would overhaul its satellite application process to accelerate reviews and cut red tape. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the Space Modernization for the 21st Century Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which will undergo a 45-day public comment period once published in the Federal Register, will help the regulator 'match the scale and dynamism of today’s space economy.'"

"Western Australian police have announced the finding of an object on an access road to a mine in the Pilbara region. Their social media post describes the object as burning, and while space junk expert Professor Steven Tingay of Curtin University is cautious, he told IFLScience images certainly make it likely it was on fire when it landed. 'I’ve never seen this happen before,' Tingay noted, but with the number of space launches increasing exponentially, he fears it could become more common. The risks from the sky might be larger than we thought. “Everyone worries about being hit,” when they think about space junk, Tingay said, 'but the chance is tiny.' However, an object that reached ground level while still on fire could start a bushfire if it landed in a forest on a dry day, Tingay pointed out."

"Environmentally, these satellites will also pose an incredible new type of pollution: the pollution that will arise when these satellites re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. Already, we have 1-to-2 Starlink satellites re-entering Earth’s atmosphere daily, adding significant amounts of aluminum to our upper atmosphere and affecting cloud seeding, with unknown downstream effects. With large mirrors, we can fully expect some reflective metal like silver or aluminum to be part of the mirror’s construction, and what goes up into low-Earth-orbit will soon come back down: depositing all of those metals into our upper atmosphere. The long-term effects have not even been quantified, but we can be certain where these materials will inevitably end up: in our atmosphere."

"The rapid deorbiting of Starlink satellites has raised alarms, particularly as Elon Musk’s SpaceX constellation continues to grow. With up to four satellites falling to Earth daily in 2025, experts, including astronomer Jonathan McDowell, are warning about both the immediate and long-term impacts. While most of these satellites burn up safely in the atmosphere, concerns about space debris and atmospheric pollution are mounting, prompting urgent calls for better disposal strategies. As the number of satellites in low-Earth orbit continues to rise, so does the need for more effective space waste management strategies. Dr. McDowell called for a reexamination of current satellite disposal methods, especially as research into the environmental impact of space debris continues. If studies show that the burning of these satellites is causing irreversible damage to the atmosphere, it will be essential to rethink how satellites are disposed of at the end of their operational life."

"A proposed constellation of satellites has astronomers very worried. Unlike satellites that reflect sunlight and produce light pollution as an unfortunate byproduct, the ones by US startup Reflect Orbital would produce light pollution by design. The company promises to produce 'sunlight on demand' with mirrors that beam sunlight down to Earth so solar farms can operate after sunset. ... It remains to be seen whether Reflect Orbital’s project will get off the ground. The company may launch a test satellite, but it’s a long way from that to getting 250,000 enormous mirrors constantly circling Earth to keep some solar farms ticking over for a few extra hours a day. Still, it’s a project to watch. The consequences of success for astronomers – and anyone else who likes the night sky dark – would be dire."

"There are more than 8,000 Starlink satellites overhead at this moment. They’re a product of the space transportation company SpaceX. And that number is growing. Plus there are other companies and countries also deploying more and more satellites, adding to the number of satellites in Earth orbit. Many of these are in low-Earth orbits, which extend up to an altitude of 1,200 miles (2,000 km) above our planet. And the lifespan of low-Earth orbit satellites, such as Starlink, is only about 5 to 7 years. Soon, McDowell told us, there will be up to 5 satellite reentries per day. He said: 'With all constellations deployed, we expect about 30,000 low-Earth orbit satellites (Starlink, Amazon Kuiper, others) and perhaps another 20,000 satellites at 1,000 km [620 miles] from the Chinese systems. For the low-orbit satellites we expect a 5-year replacement cycle, and that translates to five reentries a day. It’s not clear if the Chinese will orbit-lower theirs or just accelerate us to chain-reaction Kessler syndrome.'"

"Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr vowed Oct. 6 to accelerate satellite regulatory reforms, declaring October as “Space Month” at the U.S. regulator to overhaul licensing and spectrum rules amid mounting competition from China. Speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Apex’s new satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo, California, Carr outlined two main proposals that the FCC is preparing to vote on: The first would replace 'our bespoke licensing process with a licensing assembly line,' which Carr said would presume straightforward satellite and Earth station applications are in the public interest and eligible for expedited approval. The second proposal would revise siting rules for Earth stations in the upper microwave bands, known as UMFUS, to enable more intensive use of spectrum and simplify approvals for operators."

"California-based Reflect Orbital recently requested a license from the Federal Communications Commission to launch a demonstration satellite in 2026, as its first step to creating a constellation that will redirect sunlight to precise locations on demand. The startup says it plans to launch dozens more over the next two years, with a goal of having about 4,000 satellites in orbit by 2030. Reflect Orbital’s plan has won the backing of investors that include Sequoia Capital and tech billionaire Baiju Bhatt. But while its mission is to extend the operating hours of solar farms, astronomers say doing so will come at the expense of their research."

"A new listing of the 50 most concerning pieces of space debris in low-Earth orbit is dominated by relics more than a quarter-century old, primarily dead rockets left to hurtle through space at the end of their missions. 'The things left before 2000 are still the majority of the problem,' said Darren McKnight, lead author of a paper presented Friday at the International Astronautical Congress in Sydney. 'Seventy-six percent of the objects in the top 50 were deposited last century, and 88 percent of the objects are rocket bodies. That's important to note, especially with some disturbing trends right now.' The 50 objects identified by McKnight and his coauthors are the ones most likely to drive the creation of more space junk in low-Earth orbit (LEO) through collisions with other debris fragments. An impact with even a modestly sized object at orbital velocity would create countless pieces of debris, potentially triggering a cascading series of additional collisions clogging LEO with more and more space junk, a scenario called the Kessler Syndrome."