• SpaceX wants to launch many more satellitesCharles Boyer / Alamy Stock Photo SpaceX wants to launch many more satellites Charles Boyer / Alamy Stock Photo Astronomers are scrambling to work out the environmental impact of a SpaceX application to launch 1 million satellites, as the deadline for its approval fast approaches • On 30 January, SpaceX announced it had applied to send a vast mega-constellation of1 million satellitesinto space with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US, which CEO Elon Musk said would act as orbital data centres for artificial intelligence • Read moreWhy did SpaceX just apply to launch 1 million satellites • Read more Why did SpaceX just apply to launch 1 million satellites • The satellites would vastly outnumber anything else in orbit, with only 14,500 active satellites in space today • Currently, the FCC has no requirement to assess the potential environmental impact of launching so many satellites, including the effects on Earth’s atmosphere or the changes to the night sky it would cause

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  • Astronomers are scrambling to work out the environmental impact of a SpaceX application to launch 1 million satellites, as the deadline for its approval fast approaches. On 30 January, SpaceX announced it had applied to send a vast mega-constellation of 1 million satellites into space with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US, which CEO Elon Musk said would act as orbital data centres for artificial intelligence. The satellites would vastly outnumber anything else in orbit, with only 14,500 active satellites in space today. Currently, the FCC has no requirement to assess the p

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