Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a new report warning Elon Musk's SpaceX about the possibility of its Starlink satellites harming in a decade from now. The astronautics company reacted and called the analysis "deeply flawed."
SpaceX Reacts To FAA's Warning About Starlink Satellites
Musk plans to send more satellites into orbit in the coming years to have at least 42,000 Starlinks - the most of any company. The FAA report claimed Starlink would represent more than 85 percent of the expected risk to people on the ground and aviation from falling debris. FAA's 35-page analysis predicted 28,000 risky fragments from deorbiting satellites that could survive reentry in the next 12 years. The US Department of Transportation agency warned that Starlink could kill or seriously injure someone by 2035.
In a letter dated Oct. 9 to FAA and Congress, SpaceX principal engineer David Goldstein called the report a "deeply flawed analysis." He also called the risk of injury and death associated with Starink "preposterous, unjustified, and inaccurate."
SpaceX also stressed that the Aerospace Corporation failed to reach out to them and did not include its analysis and report about the disposal of Starlink satellites.
"To be clear, SpaceX's satellites are designed and built to fully demise during atmospheric reentry during disposal at end of life, and they do so," SpaceX said.
The letter also notes that since February 2020, 325 Starlink satellites have been deorbited, and no debris has been discovered. The Aerospace Corporation said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon that their technical team communicates with SpaceX and others to review and update the data. The researchers noted that more than two years ago, the FAA approached them "to do an independent assessment of collective risks associated with satellite reentry, based upon the projection of all planned operators under US regulation in 2021." Their record includes current and planned constellations through 2035, with the greatest percentage of satellites from low Earth orbit.
Additionally, SpaceX criticized the report for allegedly only focusing on Starlink and disregarding other satellite systems like the LEO systems developed or deployed by China, Amazon's Project Kuiper, and OneWeb. Starlink was reportedly mentioned 28 times, while Project Kuiper was only cited four times.
FAA Warning About Starlink Satellites
The FAA report does note SpaceX's claims that when its Starlink satellites fall to Earth at the end of their operational life, they burn up in the atmosphere, posing no greater danger of colliding with people, aircraft, or infrastructure. The paper also notes that this evaluation was approved by the Federal Communications Commission, which grants licenses to satellite companies.
However, according to the Aerospace Corporation, each SpaceX spacecraft might produce three pieces of debris weighing 300 grams. The FAA adopts a more conservative strategy for the study. It also stated that even a tiny amount of debris could represent a considerable risk over time, given the thousands of satellites predicted to return to space.
The report was created for Congress in response to a 2020 statutory mandate that the FAA investigate how it might address safety hazards related to launch and reentry in its regulatory capacity.
The FAA claims in the report that even if the agency changed its regulations through rulemaking, the requirements would not completely address all reentry risks to individuals on the ground or in aircraft because the FAA's authority does not cover payloads launched from outside the country.
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