Inmarsat chief warns of hazardous satellite boom

Reuters

7:00 JST, May 11, 2022

LONDON (Reuters) — British satellite company Inmarsat warned on April 26 of dangerous levels of space debris from satellite constellations planned by Elon Musk’s Starlink, Amazon, Chinese operators and others.

Inmarsat Chief Executive Rajeev Suri welcomed innovation in satellite constellations in low orbit but added that there should be better industry and regulatory coordination as they are launched.

“Mega-constellations are talking about tens of thousands of new satellites during this decade — satellites with an expected life of only five to 10 years,” he told the Royal Aeronautical Society conference in London.

“The resulting debris creates hazards not just in a particular orbit, but for anything passing through that orbit. We simply do not yet understand all the risks this creates and do not yet have all the technologies needed to manage the situation effectively.”