An illustration of a proposed Starcloud orbital data center constellation. Credit: Starcloud
WASHINGTON — As companies develop plans for large constellations of orbital data center satellites, experts say now is the time to start thinking about some critical space safety topics and rules of the road.
During a July 29 panel discussion organized by the Secure World Foundation, government and industry officials said plans to deploy constellations of tens of thousands to a million satellites require coordination on how those systems can safely coexist in low Earth orbit.
Ezra Feilden, co-founder and chief technology officer of Starcloud, a startup that has filed plans for an 88,000-satellite constellation, said the best practices established by SpaceX’s Starlink constellation should be a good starting point.
“They’re operating essentially without any major safety issues,” he said, calling Starlink “a good example for the industry to follow regarding conjunction avoidance, beginning-of-life, end-of-life” satellite operations.
