water, a natural resource to which every human has a right (National Park Service, 2021). Satellite constellations have the potential to dramatically and irrevocably alter the nakedeye appearance of the night sky (e.g., Lawler, Boley & Rein, 2021; Lawler and Boley, 2021; Skibba, 2021).
c. Earth-orbiting satellites know no national boundaries, and several Community Engagement Working Group members pointed out the need to respect the sovereignty of other nations, including Native American and other Indigenous peoples, who may regard outer space and the night sky as part of the environment, even if the FCC does not.
d. The rise in overall night-sky brightness due to the combined light from many thousands of satellites, even if individually invisible to the naked eye, may already be a significant new form of light pollution; Kocifaj et al. (2021) calculate that the night sky may already be as much as 10% brighter than natural as a result of the integrated reflected light from all artificial objects currently in orbit, including fewer than 2000 Starlink satellites out of more than 10,000 planned; that contribution to overall sky brightness will inevitably grow as more satellite constellations are put in orbit. Reasonable estimates based on planned satellite constellations just in the 2020’s imply that the night sky could be artificially brightened by as much as 250%, erasing the view of the Milky Way and more than half of naked-eye visible stars (see the Astrophotography subgroup report of the Community Engagement Working Group). The circadian rhythms of humans and animals are generally thought to be controlled by the perception of integrated and diffuse light such as from the sky (Brown, 2016), rather than from individual light sources, and many species are sensitive to extremely low levels of light, well below 1 lux (e.g., Walbeek et al., 2021). Therefore an overall elevation of night sky brightness by satellite constellations may have profound and negative effects on many or most species of flora and fauna on Earth. Again, the field is too new for there to be published empirical studies yet, but Community Engagement Working Group members argued that the precautionary principle should apply.
e. Some interviewees indicated that any potential impacts on the integrity and continuance of Earth Observation (EO) satellites from orbital debris collisions and especially a potential debris cascade (the Kessler syndrome) due to overcrowding of orbits would be points of major concern to the environmental and ecological justice community, from scientists and activists to policy makers. Many of those EO satellites operate in LEO. For decades, EO satellites have provided data that have helped humanity understand, appreciate and protect the planet’s atmosphere and ecosystems. They have exposed the vulnerability of our planet and the limits of our natural resources. They provided evidence and now the means to monitor our progress, or lack thereof, in tackling the climate and biodiversity crises. Whether directly or indirectly, whether knowingly or not, these constituents have benefited from EO observations in their work on ecosystems, natural resources, wildlife biodiversity, agriculture, food security, transportation, weather, water and air quality, light pollution, wildfires, disaster response, smart growth, climate adaptation, energy transition, social justice, and much more.
Unfortunately, because the focus on identifying and communicating impacts and mitigations related to satellite mega-constellations has been primarily on astronomy, most of the communities working on environmental, ecological and social justice issues (including
