SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.REUTERS/Mike Blake
- Elon Musk and his company SpaceX are trying to "colonize" low-Earth orbit, CEO of Arianespace Stéphane Israël said in an interview with radio station France Inter.
- Initially, SpaceX planned to launch a total of 12,000 satellites, but the company requested permission to deploy an additional 30,000 satellites earlier this year.
- "He's the manufacturer, launcher, and operator of 40,000 satellites," the satellite launch company's boss said. "His project is monopolizing the sector. He's colonizing low [Earth] orbit."
- Israël said he refused to allow low Earth orbit to be cornered by one individual, and is concerned that the satellites have to disintegrate properly.
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As part of the Starlink mega-constellation project, Elon Musk and SpaceX want 42,000 micro-satellites to be orbiting Earth.
Initially, the company planned to launch a total of 12,000 satellites to build the network, but SpaceX later requested permission to deploy an additional 30,000 satellites.
But not everyone is happy about the company's plans; Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace spoke to radio station, France Inter, saying that Musk's company is trying to "colonize" low-Earth orbit.
The launch of 60 Starlink satellites.SpaceX
"He's the manufacturer, launcher, and operator of 40,000 satellites," the satellite launch company's boss said. "His project is monopolizing the sector. He's colonizing low [Earth] orbit."
"We refuse to allow low [Earth] orbit to be cornered by one single agent, who would ultimately harm all others," said Israël.
He believes SpaceX's Starlink project, which is intended to provide fast and cheap Internet access, would result in a "Wild West" scenario in space rather than a sustainable situation.
Israël says: "We refuse to just let 'whatever' to be done."Getty Images / Kurita KAKU / Contributor
"There's room for a satellite set-up that's somewhere between a 'Wild West' scenario and a space that's just a 'safe haven'. But we refuse to just let 'whatever' to be done: these satellites will have to disintegrate properly in the atmosphere, that's our main objection. 'Yes' to constellations that make our planet better connected, but 'no' to space where we land ourselves in a sort of a 'law-of-the-jungle' situation."
SpaceX has started working on taking a handful of its experimental Starlink satellites out of orbit.
It did so using an onboard engine called a Hall-effect thruster, with the end goal being to redirect satellites to Earth's atmosphere so they totally disintegrate without turning into or creating space debris.
Amazon, OneWeb, and Telesat are also working on similar constellation projects.Win McNamee / Getty Images
These experiments aren't without risk, though; a Starlink satellite nearly collided with an European Space Agency satellite last September.
The real question is how Europe will react in order to stay in the race
The number of satellites in orbit has steadily increased over the years.
According to data compiled by astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell and published by Statista, there are currently 2,181 active satellites orbiting Earth.
That figure is very likely to keep on rising, bearing in mind that SpaceX isn't the only space company that wants to create a mega-satellite constellation in years to come.
An illustration of the Ariane 6 rocket launching toward space.David Ducros/ESA
Amazon, OneWeb, and Telesat are also working on similar projects.
A Court of Auditors report published in early 2019 suggested that Europe would have to act quickly and adapt the European launcher Ariane 6 to keep up with the competition posed by SpaceX.
One possible solution, though it would be tricky, would be to upgrade the Ariane 6 rocket to be renewable like the SpaceX Falcon 9.
Speaking on a radio show with France Inter, the Arianespace boss said, "the real question we're confronted with, as Europeans, is how we're going to react in order to stay in the race."
Den Originalartikel gibt es auf Business Insider France. This post has been translated from French. Copyright 2019.
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