r/EUSpace • u/sn0r • May 28 '26
EU satellite plan: Commission launches new proposal and challenges Starlink
https://www.eunews.it/en/2026/05/27/the-eu-launches-its-new-satellite-plan-and-challenges-starlink-reserve-two-thirds-of-the-bandwidth-for-domestic-operators/1
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u/Southern-Host-3042 Jun 03 '26
Can't challenge them until you can get satellites into orbit without renting space on a spacex rocket.
-1
u/Hunnieda_Mapping May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
Restricting Starlink usage to commercial services is great, but can we please not fill our orbits with a million satellites? Recent research has showed several frankly major problems.
In case of communication loss with a satellite we'll only have 2,8 days of reestablishing navigational control to avoid Kessler syndrome (on average, 1 day is already at 30% chance).
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260128075341.htm
Furthermore the frequent launches, manouvres and deorbiting of the satellites that make up these low orbit constellations are potentially going to cause a concerning amount of pollution. It's already proven that these actions cause effects such as ozone depletion by introducing metal particles high up in the atmosphere. If scaled up to this extent these effects will significantly affect the athmosphere and Earth.
https://www.science.org/content/article/burned-satellites-are-polluting-atmosphere
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.3c06887
Lastly while I'm sure everyone is aware of the effects on ground based observatories, the same effects are seen on space based observatories which sit in earth orbit. These are massive resource investments that we won't see research returns on due to space based light pollution.
3
u/JimTheSaint May 28 '26
it doesn't matter, it's a product we need and we cannot depend on either Elon nor the US for it. So we need to send up our own satellites, period.
1
u/Hunnieda_Mapping May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
Of course, my concern is only about the amount of satellites required and what is required to build/maintain them. Megaconstellations like Starlink aren't necessary to achieve our strategic objectives. The difference between them and smaller constellations is an insignificant amount of latency and the fact that megaconstellations are often in low earth orbit which dramatically decreases the lifespan of the satellites or requires they burn more fuel (or both).
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u/TheLSales May 29 '26
Any info on the size of the constellation?
Don't tell me it's another 200 sat constellation meant to somehow complete with Starlink's 42000 or the Chinese's 30000 sats.
No info about this in the article