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Starlink: SpaceX’s satellite internet project

Starlink is the name of a satellite network developed by the private spaceflight company SpaceX to provide low-cost internet to remote locations. SpaceX eventually hopes to have as many as 42,000 satellites in this so-called megaconstellation. 

The size and scale of the project flusters astronomers, who fear that the bright, orbiting objects will interfere with observations of the universe, as well as spaceflight safety experts who now see Starlink as the number one source of collision hazard in Earth’s orbit. In addition to that, some scientists worry that the amount of metal that will be burning up in Earth’s atmosphere as old satellites are deorbited, could trigger unpredictable changes to the planet’s climate.

Starlink:The initial plan

SpaceX’s first 60 Starlink internet communications satellites are released all at once in this animation of images taken during the successful May 23, 2019 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX’s satellite internet proposal was announced in January 2015. Though it wasn’t given a name at the time, CEO Elon Musk said that the company had filed documents with international regulators to place about 4,000 satellites in low Earth orbit.

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