A new petition has been submitted to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) calling for a review of tech companies' plans for space datacenters. The petition, led by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) and the Earthjustice legal non-profit, warns that the pollution from these datacenters could be disastrous for the planet.
According to environmental groups, the pollution from satellites and rockets could accumulate in the stratosphere, potentially destroying the ozone layer and exposing people to higher levels of ultraviolet radiation. The pollution could also end up back on Earth, and millions of satellites would create a major source of light pollution.
Several former federal US space officials have expressed doubts about the feasibility of the orbital datacenters, citing concerns about the environmental risks. 'There is a lot of complex material in these things, and even if they do burn up, you do not want to be filling up the atmosphere with refuse from these any more than you would want it coming from a smoke stack,' said Steve Volz, the former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) satellite office.
The number of active satellites in orbit has grown exponentially from about 1,400 in 2015 to about 15,000 currently. As many as 100,000 are expected to be in orbit within the decade, not including the datacenter networks. As of now, the bulk of the satellites' pollution is thought to come from Starlink and Amazon's 'mega constellations' that provide broadband internet made up of about 10,000 satellites.