Q: Any concerns about satellite direct-to-mobile communications?
C. Walker: The giant antenna sizes (e.g., #BlueWalker3) are concerning in terms of optical/IR brightness. Obvious radio interference concerns as well, but may possibly be mitigated.
Q: What about the potential connections to climate?
J. McDowell: Although traffic in space is going way up, it's very small compared to what we're putting in the oceans. But total mass of the upper atmosphere is tiny, so re-entries can have an outsized effect.
Mudd: Is space regulated as a part of the 'environment', in the sense that review is called for? Not exactly. There is existing U.S. law that mandates reviews but is unclear on its applicability to outer space. With the International Dark-Sky Association we argued in 2019 that it should be. #AAS241 #LPRISD
Green: We're limited by shortcomings of current regulations. Mitigations aren't part of Congressional mandates in current agency authorizations.
Green: AAS approved a position on the subject that has helped focus our work. It argues that balancing the benefits of commercial space against impacts to facilities with significant U.S. federal investment is a true "whole of government" problem.
Next, Richard Green (Steward Observatory) and Charles Mudd (Mudd Law) present on the policy/regulatory issues relating to #satellite #megaconstellations. #AAS241 #LPRISD
#satellite #megaconstellations #aas241 #lprisd