Concerns about ground based astronomical observationsA step to Safeguard the Astronomical Sky

Stefano Gallozzi(1) Marco Scardia(2) Michele Maris(3)

February 4 2020

(1) stefanogallozziinafitINAFndashOsservatorio Astronomico di Roma

(2) marcoscardiainafitINAFndashOsservatorio Astronomico di Brera

(3) michelemarisinafitINAFndashOsservatorio Astronomico di Trieste

Abstract

This article aims to highlight the impact forground based astronomical observations in dif-ferent windows of the electromagnetic spec-trum coming from the deployment of fleets oftelecommunications satellitesA particular attention is given to the prob-lem of crowding of circumterrestrial space bymediumsmall size orbiting objects Depend-ing on their altitude and surface reflectivitytheir contribution to the sky brightness is notnegligible for professional ground based obser-vations With the huge amount of about 50000new artificial satellites for telecommunicationsplanned to be launched in Medium and LowEarth Orbit the mean density of artificial ob-jects will be of gt1 satellite for square sky de-gree this will inevitably harm professional as-tronomical imagesOnly one of these project StarlinkSpaceXrsquoswas authorized by US Federal CommunicationCommission FCC and plans to deploy about42000 not geostationary satellites which willshine from the 3rd to the 7th magnitude in skyafter sunset and before sun dawnAll satellites will leave several dangerous trails

in astronomic images and will be particularlynegative for scientific large area images usedto search for Near Earth Objects predict-ing and eventually avoiding possible impactevents Serious concerns are common also toother wavelengths eligible for ground based in-vestigation in particular for radio-astronomywhose detectors are already saturated by theubiquitous irradiation of satellites communica-tion from Space stations as well as from theground Not to exclude the significant increasein the risk of hitting into the Kessler syn-drome scenario with the deployment of all ofthese satellitesUnderstanding the risk for astronomical com-munity a set of actions are proposed in this pa-per to mitigate and contain the most dangerouseffects arising from such changes in the popu-lation of small satellites A dedicate strategyfor urgent intervention to safeguard and pro-tect each astronomical band observable fromthe ground is outlinedKeywords Satellites constellations groundbased astronomical observations ground basedradio astronomy

1 Introduction

The deployment of large fleets of small satel-lites planned or ongoing for the next genera-tion of global telecommunication networks canseverely harm ground based astronomical ob-servationsFor centuries ground based astronomical obser-vations have led to exceptional progresses in

1

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our scientific understanding of the Laws of Na-ture Currently the capability of ground basedastronomical instrumentation is endangered bythe deployment of satellite fleets of unprece-dented sizeAstronomers all over the world are concernedfor the sky coverage and lightradio pollutionproduced by artificial satellites which repre-sent a dramatic degradation of the scientificcontent for a huge set of astronomical obser-vationsThe same concerns have been expressed by theInternational Astronomical Union IAU[1] and other institutions since the sky degra-dation is not only due to light pollution in thesky near cities and the most populated areasbut it is also due to large artificial satellitefleets crossing the sky producing bright parallelstreakstrails at all latitudesThis paper is organized as follow section 2describes the substantial and complementarycharacteristic between ground based astronom-ical facilities and those in orbit satellite con-stellations are introduced in section 3 section4 illustrates how such constellations may affectground based observations section 5 is devotedto discuss possible mitigations conclusions arein section 6

2 Ground Based and SpaceBased Astronomy

The advent of space based astronomy (ieUVES HST Spitzer Herschel Planck to citejust some of well known space telescopes) didnot dismiss ground based astronomy Onthe contrary ground based astronomy andspace based astronomy complement each otherWithout ground based observations most ofcurrent space based astronomy would be use-less or impossible The reasons for this state-ment are shortly outlined belowThe effort of developing deploying and oper-ating a space based telescope is bigger evenof more than an order of magnitude than theeffort required for a ground based telescope of

similar size (quantified by the diameter of itsmain mirror) As an example it took morethan twenty years to develop the next largespace telescope the JWST planned for launchin 2021 with a 65 meters mirror at the costof the order of ten billions euros In the mean-time the VLT with four giant 82 m telescopestwo Magellan telescopes with 62 meters mir-rors and other telescopes of similar size enteredin service The next generation of new giantground based telescopes as the GMT with a255m mirror the ESOeELT with a 39m mir-ror is expected to be putted online in abouthalf the time required for the JSWT and witha cost of about one billion euros per telescope

As the ability of a telescope to reveal smallweak far objects increases with the area of itsmirror which collects light the sensitivity of atelescope increases with the square of its diam-eter So in ideal conditions the eELT will beable to collect thirtysix times the amount oflight collected by the JWST

Compared to a ground based telescope a spacebased telescope has the strong advantage of ob-serving the sky outside the Earth atmosphereIn some bands as an example the X rays theFar UV or the far IR the atmosphere blockscompletely the incoming radiation So that aground based telescope in those bands wouldbe completely blind or severely limited butthis is not true in other bands As an ex-ample in visible light our atmosphere is quitetransparent so that to observe in visible lightfrom space is of little advantage with respectto the case of observing from ground save forthe disturbance introduced by atmospheric tur-bulence However this last problem has beenlargely mitigated in the last decades througha careful selection of the sites where telescopesare installed and by the adoption of techno-logical innovations such as the adaptive optics

A major limitation of space based telescopes isthat they can not be maintained refurbishedor repaired after launch In this respect HSThas been a lsquounicumrsquo that hardly will be possibleto repeat The obvious consequence is that theoperational lifetime of such telescopes is lim-

2

ited by the amount of consumables which canbe stored onboard (example coolant for the in-struments) and by the resilience of the instru-ments to the degradation induced by ageingradiations micro meteoroids and so on Com-pared to ground based observatories the aver-age life-time of space based telescopes is of theorder of a couple of decades or less On thecontrary ground based observatories lasts forseveral decades with telescopes installed at thebeginning of the space era again working in aprofitable manner Being impossible to replaceits components space based telescopes suffertechnological obsolescence when compared toground based observatories In general spacebased telescopes are too expensive to be usedto validate new observing technologies whichusually are developed on ground based tele-scopes firstThere are strong limitations on the mass thesize the technology which can be sent in spaceputting severe constraints on designing and op-erating space telescopes On the contrary weare virtually allowed to plan as large a groundtelescope as we want provided it will not breakunder its own weight it will be of practical useand its cost will be sustainableBefore to conclude it is important to stressthat the arguments presented above have notto be misused or misinterpreted as argumentsagainst space based astronomy On the con-trary in the modern professional practice bothkinds of astronomy are equally important sothat astronomers involved in ground based as-tronomy are often involved in space basedastronomy and vice-versa Our aim is todisprove the quite common misunderstandingthat ground based astronomy can be dismissedbecause of the advent of space based astron-omy

3 What are Satellitesrsquo Con-stellations

Over the past decades considerable effort hasgone into designing building and deploying

satellites for many important purposes Re-cently networks known as satellite constella-tions have been deployed and are planned inever greater numbers mainly in low-Earth or-bits for a variety of purposes including pro-viding communication services to underservedremote areas Until 2019 the number of suchsatellites was below 200 but that number isnow increasing rapidly with plans to deploypotentially tens of thousands of them If noaction will be put in place several problemswill soon arise in Astronomical observations

31 The Iridium Satellite Con-stellation

The Iridium satellite constellation providesL-band voice and data information cover-age to satellite phones pagers and inte-grated transceivers over the entire Earth sur-face The band used to provide communi-cation services are proper of LTE-Advancedand UMTSHSDPA services and operates from1452 to 1492 MHz1

The constellation consists of 66 active satel-lites in orbit required for global coverage andadditional spare satellites to serve in case offailure Satellites are in Low Earth OrbitLEO at a height of approximately 781km andinclination of 864 Orbital velocity of thesatellites is approximately 27000kmh Satel-lites communicate with neighboring satellitesvia Ka band inter-satellite links Each satel-lite can have four inter-satellite links one eachto neighbors foreground and afterground in thesame orbital plane and one each to satellites inneighboring planes to either side These satel-

1In Europe the Electronic Communications Com-mittee (ECC) of the European Conference of Postaland Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) hasharmonized part of the L band (1452ndash1492 MHz) al-lowing individual countries to adopt this spectrum forterrestrial mobilefixed communications networks sup-plemental down-link (MFCN SDL) By means of carrieraggregation an LTE-Advanced or UMTSHSDPA basestation could use this spectrum to provide additionalbandwidth for communications from the base stationto the mobile device ie in the downlink direction

3

lites will cover an entire orbit around the Earthwithin roughly 100 minutes

32 The SpaceX Starlink Constel-lation

The US company SpaceX plans to put in orbita very huge constellation of 42000 satellitescalled Starlink This constellation is aimedto provide internet access These satelliteswork in conjunction with ground trans-receiverstations A small set of Starlink satellites isplanned to be dedicated to military airforce [26]andor research purposes This satellites fleetwill be displaced in three orbital shells

1 about 10000 satellites at1150-kilometers-altitude orbit shellusing the Ku band (from 12 to 18 GHz)and Ka bands (from 265 to 40 GHz)

2 about 6000 satellites in a550-kilometer-altitude orbit shell us-ing the same Ku and Ka bands

3 about 26000 satellites in a340-kilometer-altitude orbit shell us-ing the V-band (from 40 to 75 GHz)2

The first phase of deployment will put in orbitfirst the 550km-altitude satellites then those at1150km-altitude To the first phase a secondphase will follow with the deployment in or-bit of the remaining inner satellites at 340km-altitudeBecause the Starlink satellites can au-tonomously change their orbits observationscannot be scheduled to avoid them

2The 5th generation mobile networks (28 38 and 60GHz) will also partially overlap with Ka and V bandsThe V band at 60 GHz was used by the worldrsquos firstcross-link communication between satellites in a con-stellation between the US Milstar 1 and Milstar 2military satellites The 60GHz frequency band is at-tractive to secure satellite crosslinks because it allowshigh data rates narrow beams and lying in a strongabsorption band of oxygen provides protection againstintercept by ground-based adversaries

33 The OneWeb Satellite Con-stellation

Is a UK project to provide global satellite In-ternet broadband services to people everywhereand it is composed of a constellation of about5260 satellite displaced in a circular LEOorbit shell of about 1200km-altitude It willtransmit and receive in the Ku bandThere are about 6 testing satellites in orbit inFebruary 2020 other 34 satellites are plannedto be launched from the Baikonur Site Otherlaunches are scheduled in 2020

34 Other Constellations

In the next years there could be over 50000new satellites encircling the Earth (at differ-ent altitudes) for various telecommunicationpurposes but mainly delivering broad band in-ternet from Space and considering the close-ness to the Earth internet signals will be pro-vided fast and with very low-latency Table 1is a non-exhaustive list of principal satellite-constellationA so large number of new self-drivng satellitesin different low-altitude orbiting shells couldalso impact on the capability to send in theouter space new science related missions sinceit would be impossible to exactly predict thesingle positioning of each constellation satel-lite so that impact risk will strongly increaseduring scientific mission launches

4 The impact of large satel-lite constellations onground based astronomy

The ground-based observatories with theirlarge optical telescope currently working (VeryLarge Telescope VLT [2] Large BinocularTelescope LBT [3] ) and those in con-struction (eg the Extremely Large TelescopeELT [4] with a main 39-meter diameter mir-ror) are essential complements to astronom-

4

Figure 1 First orbital planes of Starlink satellites after the 21 January 2020 launch of 60satellites by the Falcon-X rocket to reach the total number of orbiting satellites of 240 Star-linkSpaceX systems will be turned on at 420 satellites while the first broad band internetservice will be provided once ~1000 satellites will be deployed The red arrows indicates theFalcon9 orbiting bucket and the experimental Starlink DARKSAT with an experimental coatingto make it less reflective and thus impact ground-based astronomical observations less

ical satellites which are not affected by re-flections of the satellites As introduced inthe second section for astronomical satellitesmissions costs and limitations on sizeweightpreclude the launch of particularly large tele-scopes thus the difficulty in repairing andmaintaining telescopes in space means thatthe newest most revolutionary technologies areimplemented only on ground-based telescopesGround based telescopes are fundamental toastronomy and the international communityand single states have invested for these groundbased projects in past years several tens of bil-lions of dollarseuro trillions of dollars there-fore they are requested to produce high rateof scientific results to repay the initial publicinvestment received

What is really damaging such scientific resultsis the sky degradation This is not only due tosky-glow light pollution in the sky near cities

and the most populated areas (see Fig 2) butit is also due to artificial satellite fleets crossingand scarring observations with bright parallelstreakstrails at all latitudes

Astronomers are extremely concerned by thepossibility that sky seen from Earth may beblanketed by tens of thousands of satelliteswhich will greatly outnumber the approxi-mately 9000 stars that are visible to the un-aided human eye This is not some distantthreat it is already happening As seen insection 3 the US private company SpaceX hasalready put 240 of these small satellites col-lectively called Starlink in the sky and plansto constellate the whole sky with about 42000satellites Thus together with other telecom-munication space projects in the near future(see sect11) in a very short term there could beover 50000 small satellites encircling the Earth(at different altitudes) each of them damaging

5

Constellation Name n Satellites Altitude [km] Bands ServStartSpaceX - Starlink (USA) 42000 1150 550 340 Ku Ka V 2020

OneWeb (UK) 5260 1200 Ku 2020Telesat (CAN) 512 ~1000 Ka 2022

Amazon - Kuiper (USA) 3236 590 630 610 2021Lynk (USA) thousands 2023

Facebook (USA) thousands 500-550 2021Roscosmos (RU) 640 870 2022-2026

Aerospace SciCorp (CHI) 156 ~1000 2022

Table 1 Satellite-Constellation projects comparison

astronomical observationsThe closeness of satellites in LEO makes themmore visible and brighter in the night sky es-pecially when lighted by the Sun (eg satelliteslaunched by SpaceX are brighter than 99 per-cent of the population of objects visible by theEarth orbit )As comparison the current total number ofcataloged objects in Earth orbit is less than20000 among spacecrafts rocket bodies frag-mented mission and other related debrids sowith only the nominal Starlink fleet the to-tal number of orbiting objects will increase of300 (see Fig 2 and 3)3

In the mid and long term this will severely di-minish our view of the Universe create morespace debris and deprive humanity of an un-blemished view of the night skyIt has been considered that most of these satel-lites will be visible to the naked eye (witha brightness between the 3rd and 7th magni-tude) particularly in the time after sunset andbefore sunrise Consequently they will reach

3It has been estimated that here are over 500000non-cataloged pieces of space debris from the size ofone square cm (or larger) orbiting the Earth travelingup to 17500 mph millions of others are untraceablein addition to the around 20000 cataloged objects inEarth orbit In 1978 this scenario was predicted by DJKessler [30] warning governments about the devastat-ing cascading effect of collision-induced debris creation(the so-called Kessler syndrome) The increase numberof LEO satellites makes the creation of a dense debridsnetwork belt around the Earth a possible scenario withdevastating consequences for the future of space explo-ration and telecommunications too

the brightness of the stars in the Ursa Minorconstellation There are only 172 stars in thewhole sky exceeding the expected brightness ofStarlink satellites (see Tab 2) Higher altitudeLEO satellites (eg over 1000km-altitude) willbe visible all the night reaching approximatelythe 8th magnitude

Table 2 Stars Apparent Magnitudes compar-isons

The most important contribution on pollutionof astronomical images comes from the satel-lites in the higher orbits since the light directlyreflected by the Sun make them brighter dur-ing the night instead lower altitude satellites

6

Figure 2 Effect of Sky-glow and cut-off angle showing the relative impact of a luminairersquosoutput contribution to skyglow Picture taken from ldquoStarlight a Common Heritagerdquo CiprianoMarin IAC - ESP

Figure 3 a) Number of object in the Earthrsquos orbit and b) Number of artificial crossing bodiesduring an observing night

are foreseen to contribute negatively only fewhours after sunset and before sun dawn It ispossible to predict the range of variability ofapparent magnitudes of the LEO satellites de-pending on the position and the altitude con-sidering a mean density of about 1 satellite persquare degree (see Fig 4a and 4b and [12] fora whole sky simulation of 12000 Starlink satel-lites at three different altitudes)In Fig 4b illustrates how starlink orbitalshells (shown in red) are illuminated by theSun when it is at different altitudes below thehorizon We can see that the lower the sunis only the more distant satellites will be illu-minated At certain stages the lowest shellswonrsquot be visible at all but the higher shells

will be visible in the northern part of the skyAlso the swarm of the satellites near the hori-zon will be mostly invisible due to their dis-tance and atmospheric effects It should benoted that the worst case will be experiencedduring the summer in northern half of the skyin the northern hemisphere where the satelliteswill be visible during the entire night thoughtheir brightness will probably be lower than thebright overhead passes after the sunset and be-fore the sunrise The best case will be duringthe winter at midnight when the sky will bevirtually free of any satellites except for thehorizon for details see [28]Thus with 50k satellites the normality willbe a sky crowded with artificial objects every

7

Figure 4 a) Apparent magnitude of satellites during an observing night depending on thealtitude b) Illumination factor depending on the Sun altitude of the three orbital shells forStarlink satellites For OneWeb satellites the expected illumination fraction will be the same ofhighest starlink orbital shell see [28]

square degree of the sky will have a satellitecrawling in it along the whole observing nightaccessible and visible by astronomical camerasand not only by professional instrumentationIt should also be noted that during nominal ser-vice operations SpaceX expects to dismiss andreplace from 2000 to 8000 Starlink satellitesevery year disintegrating them in the lower at-mosphere with all related issues see [27] page4-5 for details

41 Impacts on ground based op-tical astronomy

Wide-field survey telescopes will be particu-larly damaged by the presence of multiple sat-urated trails within camera images

bull LSST [5] capable to scan and perform asurvey of the entire sky in three nights

bull VST [6] with its 268MegaPixels cameraand a FOV of 1 square degree

bull Pan-STARRS [7] with its FOV of 7 squaredegrees and 14 Giga pixels camera

Also deeplong exposures with small-field fa-cilities will be unavoidably impaired see Fig5 and [12]This have also a dramatic impact on our safetybecause large area astronomical observations

and sky surveys are commonly used in searchfor Near Earth Objects NEOs asteroids mon-itoring and other related searches to guardthe Earth from potential impact events suchsatellite constellations could negatively impacton the ability to prevent and warn the wholehumankindThe light pollution is extremely damaging forastronomical observations at all wavelengthsTo minimize the quantity of light reflected byLEO satellites Starlink has put in orbit an ex-perimental version of the Starlink satellites (Starlink satellite n1130 DARKSAT see Fign1) making use of a non-reflecting paint onthe body It is not clear how this coating willreduce the brightness of the satellite since it isnot possible to cover solar panels which repre-sents 75 of the satellite reflecting surfaceIf the satellite body will be inhibited to reflectthe sun light it will absorb radiation warm-ing too much with possibile failures thus willprobably increase the risk management for thewhole fleet and make the dark-coating solutionineffective or even counterproductiveMoreover even if the brightness of the experi-mental satellite would be below the naked eyesensitivity astronomical images will continueto see them (with resulting damage to theirscientific content)Thus degradation for scientific observationswill remain high also with coating for three dif-

8

Figure 5 Few Starlink satellites visible in a mosaic of an astronomical image (courtesy of NSFrsquosNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research LaboratoryNSFAURACTIODELVE)

ferent reasons

1 Astronomical deep field camera imageswill continue to have trails in long expo-sures depending on the filter limiting mag-nitude

2 Astronomical objects in the sky will beeclipsed this will probably harm time-dependent (variability) studies

3 The reflectivity of a surface depends onthe observational wavelength so what be-comes dark in one part of the spectrum(eg visible) will remains bright in otherparts of the spectrum (eg infrared or ra-dio)

42 Impacts on ground basedradio-astronomy

Even with best coating and mitigation proce-dures to decrease the impacto on visual astro-nomical observations what it is often omit-ted or forgotten is that telecommunication con-stellations will shine in the radio wavelengthsbands observable from the groundThe scientific needs of radio astronomers andother users of the passive services for the al-location of frequencies were first stated at theWorld Administrative Radio Conference heldin 1959 (WARC-59) At that time the generalpattern of a frequency-allocation scheme was

1 that the science of radio astronomy shouldbe recognized as a service in the Ra-

9

dio Regulations of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)

2 that a series of bands of frequenciesshould be set aside internationally forradio astronomy4

3 that special international protectionshould be afforded to the hydrogenline (1400-1427 MHz) the hydroxyl(OH) lines (1645-1675 MHz) and tothe predicted deuterium line (322-329MHz)

Since 1959 a large number of spectral lines froma wide variety of atoms and molecules in spacehave been discovered then the frequency rangeof radio astronomy now extends to at least500 GHz In particular frequencies of the COmolecule (at 115 230 and 345 GHz) isotopes(at 110 220 and 330 GHz) and the maser ofH2O at 22235GHz [29] are critical to manyaspects of astronomy see also [21]Radio astronomers have been engaged fordecades in the work of the United NationsAgency ITU to regulate the international use ofthe radio frequency spectrum Their efforts en-sured a limited number of narrow bands of thespectrum received protection to allow radio as-tronomy to develop and conduct essential andunique researchDespite the special international protectionfor Radio-astronomy some sources of radiofrequency interference (RFI) are inescapableWhile radio astronomers can minimize the ef-fects of many terrestrial sources by placingtheir telescopes at remote sites none can es-cape from RFI generated by satellite trans-mitters such as those of the Iridium SystemSpaceX and othersWhilst there is legislation in place where radioobservatories are placed (eg at the two SKAsites in Australia and South Africa) to protectthe telescopes from ground-based radio inter-ference at those frequencies the use of air and

4These bands should lie at approximately every oc-tave above 30 MHz and should have bandwidths ofabout 1 percent of the center frequency

space-borne radio communications is regulatedon a collaborative international basisWhat is not widely acknowledged is that thedevelopment of the latest generation telecom-munication networks (both from space andfrom Earth) already has a profound impacton radio-astronomical observations (at all sub-bands) with LEO satellite fleets it is quite surethat the situation could become unbearableIn particular low Earth orbit satellitersquos spec-tral windows identified to communicate withearth stations in the Ku (12-18GHz) Ka (27-40GHz) and V (40-75GHz) bands will over-lap with the nominal radio-astronomy bandsand so will interfere with ground radio tele-scopes and radio interferometers making theradio detectors enter in a non-linear regime inthe K band (18-265GHz) and in Q band (33-50GHz) This fact will irreparably compromisethe whole chain of analysis in those bands withrepercussions on our understanding of the Uni-verse or even making the astrophysics com-munity blind to these spectral windows fromthe ground see Fig 6There are different projects in development forground based radio-astronomy that will signif-icantly overlap with telecommunication signalscoming from the satellitesrsquo constellations in or-bit

bull The Next Generation Very Large Ar-ray ngVLA and ngVLA Long Base-line Array LBA [18] located in NewMexico west Texas Arizona and north-ern Mexico The VLA will use 6 radio-bands 24GHz 8GHz 16GHz 27GHz41GHz and 93GHz

bull The Square Kilometer Array SKA[19] [23] will interfere with Ku satellitescommunication bands

bull The Atacama Large Millimeter Ar-ray ALMA [22] the world-leading mmand sub-mm observatory built in At-acama Chile with enormous expensesspent by a broad international communityfacility that has brought us many signifi-cant discoveries and played a crucial role

10

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

our scientific understanding of the Laws of Na-ture Currently the capability of ground basedastronomical instrumentation is endangered bythe deployment of satellite fleets of unprece-dented sizeAstronomers all over the world are concernedfor the sky coverage and lightradio pollutionproduced by artificial satellites which repre-sent a dramatic degradation of the scientificcontent for a huge set of astronomical obser-vationsThe same concerns have been expressed by theInternational Astronomical Union IAU[1] and other institutions since the sky degra-dation is not only due to light pollution in thesky near cities and the most populated areasbut it is also due to large artificial satellitefleets crossing the sky producing bright parallelstreakstrails at all latitudesThis paper is organized as follow section 2describes the substantial and complementarycharacteristic between ground based astronom-ical facilities and those in orbit satellite con-stellations are introduced in section 3 section4 illustrates how such constellations may affectground based observations section 5 is devotedto discuss possible mitigations conclusions arein section 6

2 Ground Based and SpaceBased Astronomy

The advent of space based astronomy (ieUVES HST Spitzer Herschel Planck to citejust some of well known space telescopes) didnot dismiss ground based astronomy Onthe contrary ground based astronomy andspace based astronomy complement each otherWithout ground based observations most ofcurrent space based astronomy would be use-less or impossible The reasons for this state-ment are shortly outlined belowThe effort of developing deploying and oper-ating a space based telescope is bigger evenof more than an order of magnitude than theeffort required for a ground based telescope of

similar size (quantified by the diameter of itsmain mirror) As an example it took morethan twenty years to develop the next largespace telescope the JWST planned for launchin 2021 with a 65 meters mirror at the costof the order of ten billions euros In the mean-time the VLT with four giant 82 m telescopestwo Magellan telescopes with 62 meters mir-rors and other telescopes of similar size enteredin service The next generation of new giantground based telescopes as the GMT with a255m mirror the ESOeELT with a 39m mir-ror is expected to be putted online in abouthalf the time required for the JSWT and witha cost of about one billion euros per telescope

As the ability of a telescope to reveal smallweak far objects increases with the area of itsmirror which collects light the sensitivity of atelescope increases with the square of its diam-eter So in ideal conditions the eELT will beable to collect thirtysix times the amount oflight collected by the JWST

Compared to a ground based telescope a spacebased telescope has the strong advantage of ob-serving the sky outside the Earth atmosphereIn some bands as an example the X rays theFar UV or the far IR the atmosphere blockscompletely the incoming radiation So that aground based telescope in those bands wouldbe completely blind or severely limited butthis is not true in other bands As an ex-ample in visible light our atmosphere is quitetransparent so that to observe in visible lightfrom space is of little advantage with respectto the case of observing from ground save forthe disturbance introduced by atmospheric tur-bulence However this last problem has beenlargely mitigated in the last decades througha careful selection of the sites where telescopesare installed and by the adoption of techno-logical innovations such as the adaptive optics

A major limitation of space based telescopes isthat they can not be maintained refurbishedor repaired after launch In this respect HSThas been a lsquounicumrsquo that hardly will be possibleto repeat The obvious consequence is that theoperational lifetime of such telescopes is lim-

2

ited by the amount of consumables which canbe stored onboard (example coolant for the in-struments) and by the resilience of the instru-ments to the degradation induced by ageingradiations micro meteoroids and so on Com-pared to ground based observatories the aver-age life-time of space based telescopes is of theorder of a couple of decades or less On thecontrary ground based observatories lasts forseveral decades with telescopes installed at thebeginning of the space era again working in aprofitable manner Being impossible to replaceits components space based telescopes suffertechnological obsolescence when compared toground based observatories In general spacebased telescopes are too expensive to be usedto validate new observing technologies whichusually are developed on ground based tele-scopes firstThere are strong limitations on the mass thesize the technology which can be sent in spaceputting severe constraints on designing and op-erating space telescopes On the contrary weare virtually allowed to plan as large a groundtelescope as we want provided it will not breakunder its own weight it will be of practical useand its cost will be sustainableBefore to conclude it is important to stressthat the arguments presented above have notto be misused or misinterpreted as argumentsagainst space based astronomy On the con-trary in the modern professional practice bothkinds of astronomy are equally important sothat astronomers involved in ground based as-tronomy are often involved in space basedastronomy and vice-versa Our aim is todisprove the quite common misunderstandingthat ground based astronomy can be dismissedbecause of the advent of space based astron-omy

3 What are Satellitesrsquo Con-stellations

Over the past decades considerable effort hasgone into designing building and deploying

satellites for many important purposes Re-cently networks known as satellite constella-tions have been deployed and are planned inever greater numbers mainly in low-Earth or-bits for a variety of purposes including pro-viding communication services to underservedremote areas Until 2019 the number of suchsatellites was below 200 but that number isnow increasing rapidly with plans to deploypotentially tens of thousands of them If noaction will be put in place several problemswill soon arise in Astronomical observations

31 The Iridium Satellite Con-stellation

The Iridium satellite constellation providesL-band voice and data information cover-age to satellite phones pagers and inte-grated transceivers over the entire Earth sur-face The band used to provide communi-cation services are proper of LTE-Advancedand UMTSHSDPA services and operates from1452 to 1492 MHz1

The constellation consists of 66 active satel-lites in orbit required for global coverage andadditional spare satellites to serve in case offailure Satellites are in Low Earth OrbitLEO at a height of approximately 781km andinclination of 864 Orbital velocity of thesatellites is approximately 27000kmh Satel-lites communicate with neighboring satellitesvia Ka band inter-satellite links Each satel-lite can have four inter-satellite links one eachto neighbors foreground and afterground in thesame orbital plane and one each to satellites inneighboring planes to either side These satel-

1In Europe the Electronic Communications Com-mittee (ECC) of the European Conference of Postaland Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) hasharmonized part of the L band (1452ndash1492 MHz) al-lowing individual countries to adopt this spectrum forterrestrial mobilefixed communications networks sup-plemental down-link (MFCN SDL) By means of carrieraggregation an LTE-Advanced or UMTSHSDPA basestation could use this spectrum to provide additionalbandwidth for communications from the base stationto the mobile device ie in the downlink direction

3

lites will cover an entire orbit around the Earthwithin roughly 100 minutes

32 The SpaceX Starlink Constel-lation

The US company SpaceX plans to put in orbita very huge constellation of 42000 satellitescalled Starlink This constellation is aimedto provide internet access These satelliteswork in conjunction with ground trans-receiverstations A small set of Starlink satellites isplanned to be dedicated to military airforce [26]andor research purposes This satellites fleetwill be displaced in three orbital shells

1 about 10000 satellites at1150-kilometers-altitude orbit shellusing the Ku band (from 12 to 18 GHz)and Ka bands (from 265 to 40 GHz)

2 about 6000 satellites in a550-kilometer-altitude orbit shell us-ing the same Ku and Ka bands

3 about 26000 satellites in a340-kilometer-altitude orbit shell us-ing the V-band (from 40 to 75 GHz)2

The first phase of deployment will put in orbitfirst the 550km-altitude satellites then those at1150km-altitude To the first phase a secondphase will follow with the deployment in or-bit of the remaining inner satellites at 340km-altitudeBecause the Starlink satellites can au-tonomously change their orbits observationscannot be scheduled to avoid them

2The 5th generation mobile networks (28 38 and 60GHz) will also partially overlap with Ka and V bandsThe V band at 60 GHz was used by the worldrsquos firstcross-link communication between satellites in a con-stellation between the US Milstar 1 and Milstar 2military satellites The 60GHz frequency band is at-tractive to secure satellite crosslinks because it allowshigh data rates narrow beams and lying in a strongabsorption band of oxygen provides protection againstintercept by ground-based adversaries

33 The OneWeb Satellite Con-stellation

Is a UK project to provide global satellite In-ternet broadband services to people everywhereand it is composed of a constellation of about5260 satellite displaced in a circular LEOorbit shell of about 1200km-altitude It willtransmit and receive in the Ku bandThere are about 6 testing satellites in orbit inFebruary 2020 other 34 satellites are plannedto be launched from the Baikonur Site Otherlaunches are scheduled in 2020

34 Other Constellations

In the next years there could be over 50000new satellites encircling the Earth (at differ-ent altitudes) for various telecommunicationpurposes but mainly delivering broad band in-ternet from Space and considering the close-ness to the Earth internet signals will be pro-vided fast and with very low-latency Table 1is a non-exhaustive list of principal satellite-constellationA so large number of new self-drivng satellitesin different low-altitude orbiting shells couldalso impact on the capability to send in theouter space new science related missions sinceit would be impossible to exactly predict thesingle positioning of each constellation satel-lite so that impact risk will strongly increaseduring scientific mission launches

4 The impact of large satel-lite constellations onground based astronomy

The ground-based observatories with theirlarge optical telescope currently working (VeryLarge Telescope VLT [2] Large BinocularTelescope LBT [3] ) and those in con-struction (eg the Extremely Large TelescopeELT [4] with a main 39-meter diameter mir-ror) are essential complements to astronom-

4

Figure 1 First orbital planes of Starlink satellites after the 21 January 2020 launch of 60satellites by the Falcon-X rocket to reach the total number of orbiting satellites of 240 Star-linkSpaceX systems will be turned on at 420 satellites while the first broad band internetservice will be provided once ~1000 satellites will be deployed The red arrows indicates theFalcon9 orbiting bucket and the experimental Starlink DARKSAT with an experimental coatingto make it less reflective and thus impact ground-based astronomical observations less

ical satellites which are not affected by re-flections of the satellites As introduced inthe second section for astronomical satellitesmissions costs and limitations on sizeweightpreclude the launch of particularly large tele-scopes thus the difficulty in repairing andmaintaining telescopes in space means thatthe newest most revolutionary technologies areimplemented only on ground-based telescopesGround based telescopes are fundamental toastronomy and the international communityand single states have invested for these groundbased projects in past years several tens of bil-lions of dollarseuro trillions of dollars there-fore they are requested to produce high rateof scientific results to repay the initial publicinvestment received

What is really damaging such scientific resultsis the sky degradation This is not only due tosky-glow light pollution in the sky near cities

and the most populated areas (see Fig 2) butit is also due to artificial satellite fleets crossingand scarring observations with bright parallelstreakstrails at all latitudes

Astronomers are extremely concerned by thepossibility that sky seen from Earth may beblanketed by tens of thousands of satelliteswhich will greatly outnumber the approxi-mately 9000 stars that are visible to the un-aided human eye This is not some distantthreat it is already happening As seen insection 3 the US private company SpaceX hasalready put 240 of these small satellites col-lectively called Starlink in the sky and plansto constellate the whole sky with about 42000satellites Thus together with other telecom-munication space projects in the near future(see sect11) in a very short term there could beover 50000 small satellites encircling the Earth(at different altitudes) each of them damaging

5

Constellation Name n Satellites Altitude [km] Bands ServStartSpaceX - Starlink (USA) 42000 1150 550 340 Ku Ka V 2020

OneWeb (UK) 5260 1200 Ku 2020Telesat (CAN) 512 ~1000 Ka 2022

Amazon - Kuiper (USA) 3236 590 630 610 2021Lynk (USA) thousands 2023

Facebook (USA) thousands 500-550 2021Roscosmos (RU) 640 870 2022-2026

Aerospace SciCorp (CHI) 156 ~1000 2022

Table 1 Satellite-Constellation projects comparison

astronomical observationsThe closeness of satellites in LEO makes themmore visible and brighter in the night sky es-pecially when lighted by the Sun (eg satelliteslaunched by SpaceX are brighter than 99 per-cent of the population of objects visible by theEarth orbit )As comparison the current total number ofcataloged objects in Earth orbit is less than20000 among spacecrafts rocket bodies frag-mented mission and other related debrids sowith only the nominal Starlink fleet the to-tal number of orbiting objects will increase of300 (see Fig 2 and 3)3

In the mid and long term this will severely di-minish our view of the Universe create morespace debris and deprive humanity of an un-blemished view of the night skyIt has been considered that most of these satel-lites will be visible to the naked eye (witha brightness between the 3rd and 7th magni-tude) particularly in the time after sunset andbefore sunrise Consequently they will reach

3It has been estimated that here are over 500000non-cataloged pieces of space debris from the size ofone square cm (or larger) orbiting the Earth travelingup to 17500 mph millions of others are untraceablein addition to the around 20000 cataloged objects inEarth orbit In 1978 this scenario was predicted by DJKessler [30] warning governments about the devastat-ing cascading effect of collision-induced debris creation(the so-called Kessler syndrome) The increase numberof LEO satellites makes the creation of a dense debridsnetwork belt around the Earth a possible scenario withdevastating consequences for the future of space explo-ration and telecommunications too

the brightness of the stars in the Ursa Minorconstellation There are only 172 stars in thewhole sky exceeding the expected brightness ofStarlink satellites (see Tab 2) Higher altitudeLEO satellites (eg over 1000km-altitude) willbe visible all the night reaching approximatelythe 8th magnitude

Table 2 Stars Apparent Magnitudes compar-isons

The most important contribution on pollutionof astronomical images comes from the satel-lites in the higher orbits since the light directlyreflected by the Sun make them brighter dur-ing the night instead lower altitude satellites

6

Figure 2 Effect of Sky-glow and cut-off angle showing the relative impact of a luminairersquosoutput contribution to skyglow Picture taken from ldquoStarlight a Common Heritagerdquo CiprianoMarin IAC - ESP

Figure 3 a) Number of object in the Earthrsquos orbit and b) Number of artificial crossing bodiesduring an observing night

are foreseen to contribute negatively only fewhours after sunset and before sun dawn It ispossible to predict the range of variability ofapparent magnitudes of the LEO satellites de-pending on the position and the altitude con-sidering a mean density of about 1 satellite persquare degree (see Fig 4a and 4b and [12] fora whole sky simulation of 12000 Starlink satel-lites at three different altitudes)In Fig 4b illustrates how starlink orbitalshells (shown in red) are illuminated by theSun when it is at different altitudes below thehorizon We can see that the lower the sunis only the more distant satellites will be illu-minated At certain stages the lowest shellswonrsquot be visible at all but the higher shells

will be visible in the northern part of the skyAlso the swarm of the satellites near the hori-zon will be mostly invisible due to their dis-tance and atmospheric effects It should benoted that the worst case will be experiencedduring the summer in northern half of the skyin the northern hemisphere where the satelliteswill be visible during the entire night thoughtheir brightness will probably be lower than thebright overhead passes after the sunset and be-fore the sunrise The best case will be duringthe winter at midnight when the sky will bevirtually free of any satellites except for thehorizon for details see [28]Thus with 50k satellites the normality willbe a sky crowded with artificial objects every

7

Figure 4 a) Apparent magnitude of satellites during an observing night depending on thealtitude b) Illumination factor depending on the Sun altitude of the three orbital shells forStarlink satellites For OneWeb satellites the expected illumination fraction will be the same ofhighest starlink orbital shell see [28]

square degree of the sky will have a satellitecrawling in it along the whole observing nightaccessible and visible by astronomical camerasand not only by professional instrumentationIt should also be noted that during nominal ser-vice operations SpaceX expects to dismiss andreplace from 2000 to 8000 Starlink satellitesevery year disintegrating them in the lower at-mosphere with all related issues see [27] page4-5 for details

41 Impacts on ground based op-tical astronomy

Wide-field survey telescopes will be particu-larly damaged by the presence of multiple sat-urated trails within camera images

bull LSST [5] capable to scan and perform asurvey of the entire sky in three nights

bull VST [6] with its 268MegaPixels cameraand a FOV of 1 square degree

bull Pan-STARRS [7] with its FOV of 7 squaredegrees and 14 Giga pixels camera

Also deeplong exposures with small-field fa-cilities will be unavoidably impaired see Fig5 and [12]This have also a dramatic impact on our safetybecause large area astronomical observations

and sky surveys are commonly used in searchfor Near Earth Objects NEOs asteroids mon-itoring and other related searches to guardthe Earth from potential impact events suchsatellite constellations could negatively impacton the ability to prevent and warn the wholehumankindThe light pollution is extremely damaging forastronomical observations at all wavelengthsTo minimize the quantity of light reflected byLEO satellites Starlink has put in orbit an ex-perimental version of the Starlink satellites (Starlink satellite n1130 DARKSAT see Fign1) making use of a non-reflecting paint onthe body It is not clear how this coating willreduce the brightness of the satellite since it isnot possible to cover solar panels which repre-sents 75 of the satellite reflecting surfaceIf the satellite body will be inhibited to reflectthe sun light it will absorb radiation warm-ing too much with possibile failures thus willprobably increase the risk management for thewhole fleet and make the dark-coating solutionineffective or even counterproductiveMoreover even if the brightness of the experi-mental satellite would be below the naked eyesensitivity astronomical images will continueto see them (with resulting damage to theirscientific content)Thus degradation for scientific observationswill remain high also with coating for three dif-

8

Figure 5 Few Starlink satellites visible in a mosaic of an astronomical image (courtesy of NSFrsquosNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research LaboratoryNSFAURACTIODELVE)

ferent reasons

1 Astronomical deep field camera imageswill continue to have trails in long expo-sures depending on the filter limiting mag-nitude

2 Astronomical objects in the sky will beeclipsed this will probably harm time-dependent (variability) studies

3 The reflectivity of a surface depends onthe observational wavelength so what be-comes dark in one part of the spectrum(eg visible) will remains bright in otherparts of the spectrum (eg infrared or ra-dio)

42 Impacts on ground basedradio-astronomy

Even with best coating and mitigation proce-dures to decrease the impacto on visual astro-nomical observations what it is often omit-ted or forgotten is that telecommunication con-stellations will shine in the radio wavelengthsbands observable from the groundThe scientific needs of radio astronomers andother users of the passive services for the al-location of frequencies were first stated at theWorld Administrative Radio Conference heldin 1959 (WARC-59) At that time the generalpattern of a frequency-allocation scheme was

1 that the science of radio astronomy shouldbe recognized as a service in the Ra-

9

dio Regulations of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)

2 that a series of bands of frequenciesshould be set aside internationally forradio astronomy4

3 that special international protectionshould be afforded to the hydrogenline (1400-1427 MHz) the hydroxyl(OH) lines (1645-1675 MHz) and tothe predicted deuterium line (322-329MHz)

Since 1959 a large number of spectral lines froma wide variety of atoms and molecules in spacehave been discovered then the frequency rangeof radio astronomy now extends to at least500 GHz In particular frequencies of the COmolecule (at 115 230 and 345 GHz) isotopes(at 110 220 and 330 GHz) and the maser ofH2O at 22235GHz [29] are critical to manyaspects of astronomy see also [21]Radio astronomers have been engaged fordecades in the work of the United NationsAgency ITU to regulate the international use ofthe radio frequency spectrum Their efforts en-sured a limited number of narrow bands of thespectrum received protection to allow radio as-tronomy to develop and conduct essential andunique researchDespite the special international protectionfor Radio-astronomy some sources of radiofrequency interference (RFI) are inescapableWhile radio astronomers can minimize the ef-fects of many terrestrial sources by placingtheir telescopes at remote sites none can es-cape from RFI generated by satellite trans-mitters such as those of the Iridium SystemSpaceX and othersWhilst there is legislation in place where radioobservatories are placed (eg at the two SKAsites in Australia and South Africa) to protectthe telescopes from ground-based radio inter-ference at those frequencies the use of air and

4These bands should lie at approximately every oc-tave above 30 MHz and should have bandwidths ofabout 1 percent of the center frequency

space-borne radio communications is regulatedon a collaborative international basisWhat is not widely acknowledged is that thedevelopment of the latest generation telecom-munication networks (both from space andfrom Earth) already has a profound impacton radio-astronomical observations (at all sub-bands) with LEO satellite fleets it is quite surethat the situation could become unbearableIn particular low Earth orbit satellitersquos spec-tral windows identified to communicate withearth stations in the Ku (12-18GHz) Ka (27-40GHz) and V (40-75GHz) bands will over-lap with the nominal radio-astronomy bandsand so will interfere with ground radio tele-scopes and radio interferometers making theradio detectors enter in a non-linear regime inthe K band (18-265GHz) and in Q band (33-50GHz) This fact will irreparably compromisethe whole chain of analysis in those bands withrepercussions on our understanding of the Uni-verse or even making the astrophysics com-munity blind to these spectral windows fromthe ground see Fig 6There are different projects in development forground based radio-astronomy that will signif-icantly overlap with telecommunication signalscoming from the satellitesrsquo constellations in or-bit

bull The Next Generation Very Large Ar-ray ngVLA and ngVLA Long Base-line Array LBA [18] located in NewMexico west Texas Arizona and north-ern Mexico The VLA will use 6 radio-bands 24GHz 8GHz 16GHz 27GHz41GHz and 93GHz

bull The Square Kilometer Array SKA[19] [23] will interfere with Ku satellitescommunication bands

bull The Atacama Large Millimeter Ar-ray ALMA [22] the world-leading mmand sub-mm observatory built in At-acama Chile with enormous expensesspent by a broad international communityfacility that has brought us many signifi-cant discoveries and played a crucial role

10

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

ited by the amount of consumables which canbe stored onboard (example coolant for the in-struments) and by the resilience of the instru-ments to the degradation induced by ageingradiations micro meteoroids and so on Com-pared to ground based observatories the aver-age life-time of space based telescopes is of theorder of a couple of decades or less On thecontrary ground based observatories lasts forseveral decades with telescopes installed at thebeginning of the space era again working in aprofitable manner Being impossible to replaceits components space based telescopes suffertechnological obsolescence when compared toground based observatories In general spacebased telescopes are too expensive to be usedto validate new observing technologies whichusually are developed on ground based tele-scopes firstThere are strong limitations on the mass thesize the technology which can be sent in spaceputting severe constraints on designing and op-erating space telescopes On the contrary weare virtually allowed to plan as large a groundtelescope as we want provided it will not breakunder its own weight it will be of practical useand its cost will be sustainableBefore to conclude it is important to stressthat the arguments presented above have notto be misused or misinterpreted as argumentsagainst space based astronomy On the con-trary in the modern professional practice bothkinds of astronomy are equally important sothat astronomers involved in ground based as-tronomy are often involved in space basedastronomy and vice-versa Our aim is todisprove the quite common misunderstandingthat ground based astronomy can be dismissedbecause of the advent of space based astron-omy

3 What are Satellitesrsquo Con-stellations

Over the past decades considerable effort hasgone into designing building and deploying

satellites for many important purposes Re-cently networks known as satellite constella-tions have been deployed and are planned inever greater numbers mainly in low-Earth or-bits for a variety of purposes including pro-viding communication services to underservedremote areas Until 2019 the number of suchsatellites was below 200 but that number isnow increasing rapidly with plans to deploypotentially tens of thousands of them If noaction will be put in place several problemswill soon arise in Astronomical observations

31 The Iridium Satellite Con-stellation

The Iridium satellite constellation providesL-band voice and data information cover-age to satellite phones pagers and inte-grated transceivers over the entire Earth sur-face The band used to provide communi-cation services are proper of LTE-Advancedand UMTSHSDPA services and operates from1452 to 1492 MHz1

The constellation consists of 66 active satel-lites in orbit required for global coverage andadditional spare satellites to serve in case offailure Satellites are in Low Earth OrbitLEO at a height of approximately 781km andinclination of 864 Orbital velocity of thesatellites is approximately 27000kmh Satel-lites communicate with neighboring satellitesvia Ka band inter-satellite links Each satel-lite can have four inter-satellite links one eachto neighbors foreground and afterground in thesame orbital plane and one each to satellites inneighboring planes to either side These satel-

1In Europe the Electronic Communications Com-mittee (ECC) of the European Conference of Postaland Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) hasharmonized part of the L band (1452ndash1492 MHz) al-lowing individual countries to adopt this spectrum forterrestrial mobilefixed communications networks sup-plemental down-link (MFCN SDL) By means of carrieraggregation an LTE-Advanced or UMTSHSDPA basestation could use this spectrum to provide additionalbandwidth for communications from the base stationto the mobile device ie in the downlink direction

3

lites will cover an entire orbit around the Earthwithin roughly 100 minutes

32 The SpaceX Starlink Constel-lation

The US company SpaceX plans to put in orbita very huge constellation of 42000 satellitescalled Starlink This constellation is aimedto provide internet access These satelliteswork in conjunction with ground trans-receiverstations A small set of Starlink satellites isplanned to be dedicated to military airforce [26]andor research purposes This satellites fleetwill be displaced in three orbital shells

1 about 10000 satellites at1150-kilometers-altitude orbit shellusing the Ku band (from 12 to 18 GHz)and Ka bands (from 265 to 40 GHz)

2 about 6000 satellites in a550-kilometer-altitude orbit shell us-ing the same Ku and Ka bands

3 about 26000 satellites in a340-kilometer-altitude orbit shell us-ing the V-band (from 40 to 75 GHz)2

The first phase of deployment will put in orbitfirst the 550km-altitude satellites then those at1150km-altitude To the first phase a secondphase will follow with the deployment in or-bit of the remaining inner satellites at 340km-altitudeBecause the Starlink satellites can au-tonomously change their orbits observationscannot be scheduled to avoid them

2The 5th generation mobile networks (28 38 and 60GHz) will also partially overlap with Ka and V bandsThe V band at 60 GHz was used by the worldrsquos firstcross-link communication between satellites in a con-stellation between the US Milstar 1 and Milstar 2military satellites The 60GHz frequency band is at-tractive to secure satellite crosslinks because it allowshigh data rates narrow beams and lying in a strongabsorption band of oxygen provides protection againstintercept by ground-based adversaries

33 The OneWeb Satellite Con-stellation

Is a UK project to provide global satellite In-ternet broadband services to people everywhereand it is composed of a constellation of about5260 satellite displaced in a circular LEOorbit shell of about 1200km-altitude It willtransmit and receive in the Ku bandThere are about 6 testing satellites in orbit inFebruary 2020 other 34 satellites are plannedto be launched from the Baikonur Site Otherlaunches are scheduled in 2020

34 Other Constellations

In the next years there could be over 50000new satellites encircling the Earth (at differ-ent altitudes) for various telecommunicationpurposes but mainly delivering broad band in-ternet from Space and considering the close-ness to the Earth internet signals will be pro-vided fast and with very low-latency Table 1is a non-exhaustive list of principal satellite-constellationA so large number of new self-drivng satellitesin different low-altitude orbiting shells couldalso impact on the capability to send in theouter space new science related missions sinceit would be impossible to exactly predict thesingle positioning of each constellation satel-lite so that impact risk will strongly increaseduring scientific mission launches

4 The impact of large satel-lite constellations onground based astronomy

The ground-based observatories with theirlarge optical telescope currently working (VeryLarge Telescope VLT [2] Large BinocularTelescope LBT [3] ) and those in con-struction (eg the Extremely Large TelescopeELT [4] with a main 39-meter diameter mir-ror) are essential complements to astronom-

4

Figure 1 First orbital planes of Starlink satellites after the 21 January 2020 launch of 60satellites by the Falcon-X rocket to reach the total number of orbiting satellites of 240 Star-linkSpaceX systems will be turned on at 420 satellites while the first broad band internetservice will be provided once ~1000 satellites will be deployed The red arrows indicates theFalcon9 orbiting bucket and the experimental Starlink DARKSAT with an experimental coatingto make it less reflective and thus impact ground-based astronomical observations less

ical satellites which are not affected by re-flections of the satellites As introduced inthe second section for astronomical satellitesmissions costs and limitations on sizeweightpreclude the launch of particularly large tele-scopes thus the difficulty in repairing andmaintaining telescopes in space means thatthe newest most revolutionary technologies areimplemented only on ground-based telescopesGround based telescopes are fundamental toastronomy and the international communityand single states have invested for these groundbased projects in past years several tens of bil-lions of dollarseuro trillions of dollars there-fore they are requested to produce high rateof scientific results to repay the initial publicinvestment received

What is really damaging such scientific resultsis the sky degradation This is not only due tosky-glow light pollution in the sky near cities

and the most populated areas (see Fig 2) butit is also due to artificial satellite fleets crossingand scarring observations with bright parallelstreakstrails at all latitudes

Astronomers are extremely concerned by thepossibility that sky seen from Earth may beblanketed by tens of thousands of satelliteswhich will greatly outnumber the approxi-mately 9000 stars that are visible to the un-aided human eye This is not some distantthreat it is already happening As seen insection 3 the US private company SpaceX hasalready put 240 of these small satellites col-lectively called Starlink in the sky and plansto constellate the whole sky with about 42000satellites Thus together with other telecom-munication space projects in the near future(see sect11) in a very short term there could beover 50000 small satellites encircling the Earth(at different altitudes) each of them damaging

5

Constellation Name n Satellites Altitude [km] Bands ServStartSpaceX - Starlink (USA) 42000 1150 550 340 Ku Ka V 2020

OneWeb (UK) 5260 1200 Ku 2020Telesat (CAN) 512 ~1000 Ka 2022

Amazon - Kuiper (USA) 3236 590 630 610 2021Lynk (USA) thousands 2023

Facebook (USA) thousands 500-550 2021Roscosmos (RU) 640 870 2022-2026

Aerospace SciCorp (CHI) 156 ~1000 2022

Table 1 Satellite-Constellation projects comparison

astronomical observationsThe closeness of satellites in LEO makes themmore visible and brighter in the night sky es-pecially when lighted by the Sun (eg satelliteslaunched by SpaceX are brighter than 99 per-cent of the population of objects visible by theEarth orbit )As comparison the current total number ofcataloged objects in Earth orbit is less than20000 among spacecrafts rocket bodies frag-mented mission and other related debrids sowith only the nominal Starlink fleet the to-tal number of orbiting objects will increase of300 (see Fig 2 and 3)3

In the mid and long term this will severely di-minish our view of the Universe create morespace debris and deprive humanity of an un-blemished view of the night skyIt has been considered that most of these satel-lites will be visible to the naked eye (witha brightness between the 3rd and 7th magni-tude) particularly in the time after sunset andbefore sunrise Consequently they will reach

3It has been estimated that here are over 500000non-cataloged pieces of space debris from the size ofone square cm (or larger) orbiting the Earth travelingup to 17500 mph millions of others are untraceablein addition to the around 20000 cataloged objects inEarth orbit In 1978 this scenario was predicted by DJKessler [30] warning governments about the devastat-ing cascading effect of collision-induced debris creation(the so-called Kessler syndrome) The increase numberof LEO satellites makes the creation of a dense debridsnetwork belt around the Earth a possible scenario withdevastating consequences for the future of space explo-ration and telecommunications too

the brightness of the stars in the Ursa Minorconstellation There are only 172 stars in thewhole sky exceeding the expected brightness ofStarlink satellites (see Tab 2) Higher altitudeLEO satellites (eg over 1000km-altitude) willbe visible all the night reaching approximatelythe 8th magnitude

Table 2 Stars Apparent Magnitudes compar-isons

The most important contribution on pollutionof astronomical images comes from the satel-lites in the higher orbits since the light directlyreflected by the Sun make them brighter dur-ing the night instead lower altitude satellites

6

Figure 2 Effect of Sky-glow and cut-off angle showing the relative impact of a luminairersquosoutput contribution to skyglow Picture taken from ldquoStarlight a Common Heritagerdquo CiprianoMarin IAC - ESP

Figure 3 a) Number of object in the Earthrsquos orbit and b) Number of artificial crossing bodiesduring an observing night

are foreseen to contribute negatively only fewhours after sunset and before sun dawn It ispossible to predict the range of variability ofapparent magnitudes of the LEO satellites de-pending on the position and the altitude con-sidering a mean density of about 1 satellite persquare degree (see Fig 4a and 4b and [12] fora whole sky simulation of 12000 Starlink satel-lites at three different altitudes)In Fig 4b illustrates how starlink orbitalshells (shown in red) are illuminated by theSun when it is at different altitudes below thehorizon We can see that the lower the sunis only the more distant satellites will be illu-minated At certain stages the lowest shellswonrsquot be visible at all but the higher shells

will be visible in the northern part of the skyAlso the swarm of the satellites near the hori-zon will be mostly invisible due to their dis-tance and atmospheric effects It should benoted that the worst case will be experiencedduring the summer in northern half of the skyin the northern hemisphere where the satelliteswill be visible during the entire night thoughtheir brightness will probably be lower than thebright overhead passes after the sunset and be-fore the sunrise The best case will be duringthe winter at midnight when the sky will bevirtually free of any satellites except for thehorizon for details see [28]Thus with 50k satellites the normality willbe a sky crowded with artificial objects every

7

Figure 4 a) Apparent magnitude of satellites during an observing night depending on thealtitude b) Illumination factor depending on the Sun altitude of the three orbital shells forStarlink satellites For OneWeb satellites the expected illumination fraction will be the same ofhighest starlink orbital shell see [28]

square degree of the sky will have a satellitecrawling in it along the whole observing nightaccessible and visible by astronomical camerasand not only by professional instrumentationIt should also be noted that during nominal ser-vice operations SpaceX expects to dismiss andreplace from 2000 to 8000 Starlink satellitesevery year disintegrating them in the lower at-mosphere with all related issues see [27] page4-5 for details

41 Impacts on ground based op-tical astronomy

Wide-field survey telescopes will be particu-larly damaged by the presence of multiple sat-urated trails within camera images

bull LSST [5] capable to scan and perform asurvey of the entire sky in three nights

bull VST [6] with its 268MegaPixels cameraand a FOV of 1 square degree

bull Pan-STARRS [7] with its FOV of 7 squaredegrees and 14 Giga pixels camera

Also deeplong exposures with small-field fa-cilities will be unavoidably impaired see Fig5 and [12]This have also a dramatic impact on our safetybecause large area astronomical observations

and sky surveys are commonly used in searchfor Near Earth Objects NEOs asteroids mon-itoring and other related searches to guardthe Earth from potential impact events suchsatellite constellations could negatively impacton the ability to prevent and warn the wholehumankindThe light pollution is extremely damaging forastronomical observations at all wavelengthsTo minimize the quantity of light reflected byLEO satellites Starlink has put in orbit an ex-perimental version of the Starlink satellites (Starlink satellite n1130 DARKSAT see Fign1) making use of a non-reflecting paint onthe body It is not clear how this coating willreduce the brightness of the satellite since it isnot possible to cover solar panels which repre-sents 75 of the satellite reflecting surfaceIf the satellite body will be inhibited to reflectthe sun light it will absorb radiation warm-ing too much with possibile failures thus willprobably increase the risk management for thewhole fleet and make the dark-coating solutionineffective or even counterproductiveMoreover even if the brightness of the experi-mental satellite would be below the naked eyesensitivity astronomical images will continueto see them (with resulting damage to theirscientific content)Thus degradation for scientific observationswill remain high also with coating for three dif-

8

Figure 5 Few Starlink satellites visible in a mosaic of an astronomical image (courtesy of NSFrsquosNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research LaboratoryNSFAURACTIODELVE)

ferent reasons

1 Astronomical deep field camera imageswill continue to have trails in long expo-sures depending on the filter limiting mag-nitude

2 Astronomical objects in the sky will beeclipsed this will probably harm time-dependent (variability) studies

3 The reflectivity of a surface depends onthe observational wavelength so what be-comes dark in one part of the spectrum(eg visible) will remains bright in otherparts of the spectrum (eg infrared or ra-dio)

42 Impacts on ground basedradio-astronomy

Even with best coating and mitigation proce-dures to decrease the impacto on visual astro-nomical observations what it is often omit-ted or forgotten is that telecommunication con-stellations will shine in the radio wavelengthsbands observable from the groundThe scientific needs of radio astronomers andother users of the passive services for the al-location of frequencies were first stated at theWorld Administrative Radio Conference heldin 1959 (WARC-59) At that time the generalpattern of a frequency-allocation scheme was

1 that the science of radio astronomy shouldbe recognized as a service in the Ra-

9

dio Regulations of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)

2 that a series of bands of frequenciesshould be set aside internationally forradio astronomy4

3 that special international protectionshould be afforded to the hydrogenline (1400-1427 MHz) the hydroxyl(OH) lines (1645-1675 MHz) and tothe predicted deuterium line (322-329MHz)

Since 1959 a large number of spectral lines froma wide variety of atoms and molecules in spacehave been discovered then the frequency rangeof radio astronomy now extends to at least500 GHz In particular frequencies of the COmolecule (at 115 230 and 345 GHz) isotopes(at 110 220 and 330 GHz) and the maser ofH2O at 22235GHz [29] are critical to manyaspects of astronomy see also [21]Radio astronomers have been engaged fordecades in the work of the United NationsAgency ITU to regulate the international use ofthe radio frequency spectrum Their efforts en-sured a limited number of narrow bands of thespectrum received protection to allow radio as-tronomy to develop and conduct essential andunique researchDespite the special international protectionfor Radio-astronomy some sources of radiofrequency interference (RFI) are inescapableWhile radio astronomers can minimize the ef-fects of many terrestrial sources by placingtheir telescopes at remote sites none can es-cape from RFI generated by satellite trans-mitters such as those of the Iridium SystemSpaceX and othersWhilst there is legislation in place where radioobservatories are placed (eg at the two SKAsites in Australia and South Africa) to protectthe telescopes from ground-based radio inter-ference at those frequencies the use of air and

4These bands should lie at approximately every oc-tave above 30 MHz and should have bandwidths ofabout 1 percent of the center frequency

space-borne radio communications is regulatedon a collaborative international basisWhat is not widely acknowledged is that thedevelopment of the latest generation telecom-munication networks (both from space andfrom Earth) already has a profound impacton radio-astronomical observations (at all sub-bands) with LEO satellite fleets it is quite surethat the situation could become unbearableIn particular low Earth orbit satellitersquos spec-tral windows identified to communicate withearth stations in the Ku (12-18GHz) Ka (27-40GHz) and V (40-75GHz) bands will over-lap with the nominal radio-astronomy bandsand so will interfere with ground radio tele-scopes and radio interferometers making theradio detectors enter in a non-linear regime inthe K band (18-265GHz) and in Q band (33-50GHz) This fact will irreparably compromisethe whole chain of analysis in those bands withrepercussions on our understanding of the Uni-verse or even making the astrophysics com-munity blind to these spectral windows fromthe ground see Fig 6There are different projects in development forground based radio-astronomy that will signif-icantly overlap with telecommunication signalscoming from the satellitesrsquo constellations in or-bit

bull The Next Generation Very Large Ar-ray ngVLA and ngVLA Long Base-line Array LBA [18] located in NewMexico west Texas Arizona and north-ern Mexico The VLA will use 6 radio-bands 24GHz 8GHz 16GHz 27GHz41GHz and 93GHz

bull The Square Kilometer Array SKA[19] [23] will interfere with Ku satellitescommunication bands

bull The Atacama Large Millimeter Ar-ray ALMA [22] the world-leading mmand sub-mm observatory built in At-acama Chile with enormous expensesspent by a broad international communityfacility that has brought us many signifi-cant discoveries and played a crucial role

10

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

lites will cover an entire orbit around the Earthwithin roughly 100 minutes

32 The SpaceX Starlink Constel-lation

The US company SpaceX plans to put in orbita very huge constellation of 42000 satellitescalled Starlink This constellation is aimedto provide internet access These satelliteswork in conjunction with ground trans-receiverstations A small set of Starlink satellites isplanned to be dedicated to military airforce [26]andor research purposes This satellites fleetwill be displaced in three orbital shells

1 about 10000 satellites at1150-kilometers-altitude orbit shellusing the Ku band (from 12 to 18 GHz)and Ka bands (from 265 to 40 GHz)

2 about 6000 satellites in a550-kilometer-altitude orbit shell us-ing the same Ku and Ka bands

3 about 26000 satellites in a340-kilometer-altitude orbit shell us-ing the V-band (from 40 to 75 GHz)2

The first phase of deployment will put in orbitfirst the 550km-altitude satellites then those at1150km-altitude To the first phase a secondphase will follow with the deployment in or-bit of the remaining inner satellites at 340km-altitudeBecause the Starlink satellites can au-tonomously change their orbits observationscannot be scheduled to avoid them

2The 5th generation mobile networks (28 38 and 60GHz) will also partially overlap with Ka and V bandsThe V band at 60 GHz was used by the worldrsquos firstcross-link communication between satellites in a con-stellation between the US Milstar 1 and Milstar 2military satellites The 60GHz frequency band is at-tractive to secure satellite crosslinks because it allowshigh data rates narrow beams and lying in a strongabsorption band of oxygen provides protection againstintercept by ground-based adversaries

33 The OneWeb Satellite Con-stellation

Is a UK project to provide global satellite In-ternet broadband services to people everywhereand it is composed of a constellation of about5260 satellite displaced in a circular LEOorbit shell of about 1200km-altitude It willtransmit and receive in the Ku bandThere are about 6 testing satellites in orbit inFebruary 2020 other 34 satellites are plannedto be launched from the Baikonur Site Otherlaunches are scheduled in 2020

34 Other Constellations

In the next years there could be over 50000new satellites encircling the Earth (at differ-ent altitudes) for various telecommunicationpurposes but mainly delivering broad band in-ternet from Space and considering the close-ness to the Earth internet signals will be pro-vided fast and with very low-latency Table 1is a non-exhaustive list of principal satellite-constellationA so large number of new self-drivng satellitesin different low-altitude orbiting shells couldalso impact on the capability to send in theouter space new science related missions sinceit would be impossible to exactly predict thesingle positioning of each constellation satel-lite so that impact risk will strongly increaseduring scientific mission launches

4 The impact of large satel-lite constellations onground based astronomy

The ground-based observatories with theirlarge optical telescope currently working (VeryLarge Telescope VLT [2] Large BinocularTelescope LBT [3] ) and those in con-struction (eg the Extremely Large TelescopeELT [4] with a main 39-meter diameter mir-ror) are essential complements to astronom-

4

Figure 1 First orbital planes of Starlink satellites after the 21 January 2020 launch of 60satellites by the Falcon-X rocket to reach the total number of orbiting satellites of 240 Star-linkSpaceX systems will be turned on at 420 satellites while the first broad band internetservice will be provided once ~1000 satellites will be deployed The red arrows indicates theFalcon9 orbiting bucket and the experimental Starlink DARKSAT with an experimental coatingto make it less reflective and thus impact ground-based astronomical observations less

ical satellites which are not affected by re-flections of the satellites As introduced inthe second section for astronomical satellitesmissions costs and limitations on sizeweightpreclude the launch of particularly large tele-scopes thus the difficulty in repairing andmaintaining telescopes in space means thatthe newest most revolutionary technologies areimplemented only on ground-based telescopesGround based telescopes are fundamental toastronomy and the international communityand single states have invested for these groundbased projects in past years several tens of bil-lions of dollarseuro trillions of dollars there-fore they are requested to produce high rateof scientific results to repay the initial publicinvestment received

What is really damaging such scientific resultsis the sky degradation This is not only due tosky-glow light pollution in the sky near cities

and the most populated areas (see Fig 2) butit is also due to artificial satellite fleets crossingand scarring observations with bright parallelstreakstrails at all latitudes

Astronomers are extremely concerned by thepossibility that sky seen from Earth may beblanketed by tens of thousands of satelliteswhich will greatly outnumber the approxi-mately 9000 stars that are visible to the un-aided human eye This is not some distantthreat it is already happening As seen insection 3 the US private company SpaceX hasalready put 240 of these small satellites col-lectively called Starlink in the sky and plansto constellate the whole sky with about 42000satellites Thus together with other telecom-munication space projects in the near future(see sect11) in a very short term there could beover 50000 small satellites encircling the Earth(at different altitudes) each of them damaging

5

Constellation Name n Satellites Altitude [km] Bands ServStartSpaceX - Starlink (USA) 42000 1150 550 340 Ku Ka V 2020

OneWeb (UK) 5260 1200 Ku 2020Telesat (CAN) 512 ~1000 Ka 2022

Amazon - Kuiper (USA) 3236 590 630 610 2021Lynk (USA) thousands 2023

Facebook (USA) thousands 500-550 2021Roscosmos (RU) 640 870 2022-2026

Aerospace SciCorp (CHI) 156 ~1000 2022

Table 1 Satellite-Constellation projects comparison

astronomical observationsThe closeness of satellites in LEO makes themmore visible and brighter in the night sky es-pecially when lighted by the Sun (eg satelliteslaunched by SpaceX are brighter than 99 per-cent of the population of objects visible by theEarth orbit )As comparison the current total number ofcataloged objects in Earth orbit is less than20000 among spacecrafts rocket bodies frag-mented mission and other related debrids sowith only the nominal Starlink fleet the to-tal number of orbiting objects will increase of300 (see Fig 2 and 3)3

In the mid and long term this will severely di-minish our view of the Universe create morespace debris and deprive humanity of an un-blemished view of the night skyIt has been considered that most of these satel-lites will be visible to the naked eye (witha brightness between the 3rd and 7th magni-tude) particularly in the time after sunset andbefore sunrise Consequently they will reach

3It has been estimated that here are over 500000non-cataloged pieces of space debris from the size ofone square cm (or larger) orbiting the Earth travelingup to 17500 mph millions of others are untraceablein addition to the around 20000 cataloged objects inEarth orbit In 1978 this scenario was predicted by DJKessler [30] warning governments about the devastat-ing cascading effect of collision-induced debris creation(the so-called Kessler syndrome) The increase numberof LEO satellites makes the creation of a dense debridsnetwork belt around the Earth a possible scenario withdevastating consequences for the future of space explo-ration and telecommunications too

the brightness of the stars in the Ursa Minorconstellation There are only 172 stars in thewhole sky exceeding the expected brightness ofStarlink satellites (see Tab 2) Higher altitudeLEO satellites (eg over 1000km-altitude) willbe visible all the night reaching approximatelythe 8th magnitude

Table 2 Stars Apparent Magnitudes compar-isons

The most important contribution on pollutionof astronomical images comes from the satel-lites in the higher orbits since the light directlyreflected by the Sun make them brighter dur-ing the night instead lower altitude satellites

6

Figure 2 Effect of Sky-glow and cut-off angle showing the relative impact of a luminairersquosoutput contribution to skyglow Picture taken from ldquoStarlight a Common Heritagerdquo CiprianoMarin IAC - ESP

Figure 3 a) Number of object in the Earthrsquos orbit and b) Number of artificial crossing bodiesduring an observing night

are foreseen to contribute negatively only fewhours after sunset and before sun dawn It ispossible to predict the range of variability ofapparent magnitudes of the LEO satellites de-pending on the position and the altitude con-sidering a mean density of about 1 satellite persquare degree (see Fig 4a and 4b and [12] fora whole sky simulation of 12000 Starlink satel-lites at three different altitudes)In Fig 4b illustrates how starlink orbitalshells (shown in red) are illuminated by theSun when it is at different altitudes below thehorizon We can see that the lower the sunis only the more distant satellites will be illu-minated At certain stages the lowest shellswonrsquot be visible at all but the higher shells

will be visible in the northern part of the skyAlso the swarm of the satellites near the hori-zon will be mostly invisible due to their dis-tance and atmospheric effects It should benoted that the worst case will be experiencedduring the summer in northern half of the skyin the northern hemisphere where the satelliteswill be visible during the entire night thoughtheir brightness will probably be lower than thebright overhead passes after the sunset and be-fore the sunrise The best case will be duringthe winter at midnight when the sky will bevirtually free of any satellites except for thehorizon for details see [28]Thus with 50k satellites the normality willbe a sky crowded with artificial objects every

7

Figure 4 a) Apparent magnitude of satellites during an observing night depending on thealtitude b) Illumination factor depending on the Sun altitude of the three orbital shells forStarlink satellites For OneWeb satellites the expected illumination fraction will be the same ofhighest starlink orbital shell see [28]

square degree of the sky will have a satellitecrawling in it along the whole observing nightaccessible and visible by astronomical camerasand not only by professional instrumentationIt should also be noted that during nominal ser-vice operations SpaceX expects to dismiss andreplace from 2000 to 8000 Starlink satellitesevery year disintegrating them in the lower at-mosphere with all related issues see [27] page4-5 for details

41 Impacts on ground based op-tical astronomy

Wide-field survey telescopes will be particu-larly damaged by the presence of multiple sat-urated trails within camera images

bull LSST [5] capable to scan and perform asurvey of the entire sky in three nights

bull VST [6] with its 268MegaPixels cameraand a FOV of 1 square degree

bull Pan-STARRS [7] with its FOV of 7 squaredegrees and 14 Giga pixels camera

Also deeplong exposures with small-field fa-cilities will be unavoidably impaired see Fig5 and [12]This have also a dramatic impact on our safetybecause large area astronomical observations

and sky surveys are commonly used in searchfor Near Earth Objects NEOs asteroids mon-itoring and other related searches to guardthe Earth from potential impact events suchsatellite constellations could negatively impacton the ability to prevent and warn the wholehumankindThe light pollution is extremely damaging forastronomical observations at all wavelengthsTo minimize the quantity of light reflected byLEO satellites Starlink has put in orbit an ex-perimental version of the Starlink satellites (Starlink satellite n1130 DARKSAT see Fign1) making use of a non-reflecting paint onthe body It is not clear how this coating willreduce the brightness of the satellite since it isnot possible to cover solar panels which repre-sents 75 of the satellite reflecting surfaceIf the satellite body will be inhibited to reflectthe sun light it will absorb radiation warm-ing too much with possibile failures thus willprobably increase the risk management for thewhole fleet and make the dark-coating solutionineffective or even counterproductiveMoreover even if the brightness of the experi-mental satellite would be below the naked eyesensitivity astronomical images will continueto see them (with resulting damage to theirscientific content)Thus degradation for scientific observationswill remain high also with coating for three dif-

8

Figure 5 Few Starlink satellites visible in a mosaic of an astronomical image (courtesy of NSFrsquosNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research LaboratoryNSFAURACTIODELVE)

ferent reasons

1 Astronomical deep field camera imageswill continue to have trails in long expo-sures depending on the filter limiting mag-nitude

2 Astronomical objects in the sky will beeclipsed this will probably harm time-dependent (variability) studies

3 The reflectivity of a surface depends onthe observational wavelength so what be-comes dark in one part of the spectrum(eg visible) will remains bright in otherparts of the spectrum (eg infrared or ra-dio)

42 Impacts on ground basedradio-astronomy

Even with best coating and mitigation proce-dures to decrease the impacto on visual astro-nomical observations what it is often omit-ted or forgotten is that telecommunication con-stellations will shine in the radio wavelengthsbands observable from the groundThe scientific needs of radio astronomers andother users of the passive services for the al-location of frequencies were first stated at theWorld Administrative Radio Conference heldin 1959 (WARC-59) At that time the generalpattern of a frequency-allocation scheme was

1 that the science of radio astronomy shouldbe recognized as a service in the Ra-

9

dio Regulations of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)

2 that a series of bands of frequenciesshould be set aside internationally forradio astronomy4

3 that special international protectionshould be afforded to the hydrogenline (1400-1427 MHz) the hydroxyl(OH) lines (1645-1675 MHz) and tothe predicted deuterium line (322-329MHz)

Since 1959 a large number of spectral lines froma wide variety of atoms and molecules in spacehave been discovered then the frequency rangeof radio astronomy now extends to at least500 GHz In particular frequencies of the COmolecule (at 115 230 and 345 GHz) isotopes(at 110 220 and 330 GHz) and the maser ofH2O at 22235GHz [29] are critical to manyaspects of astronomy see also [21]Radio astronomers have been engaged fordecades in the work of the United NationsAgency ITU to regulate the international use ofthe radio frequency spectrum Their efforts en-sured a limited number of narrow bands of thespectrum received protection to allow radio as-tronomy to develop and conduct essential andunique researchDespite the special international protectionfor Radio-astronomy some sources of radiofrequency interference (RFI) are inescapableWhile radio astronomers can minimize the ef-fects of many terrestrial sources by placingtheir telescopes at remote sites none can es-cape from RFI generated by satellite trans-mitters such as those of the Iridium SystemSpaceX and othersWhilst there is legislation in place where radioobservatories are placed (eg at the two SKAsites in Australia and South Africa) to protectthe telescopes from ground-based radio inter-ference at those frequencies the use of air and

4These bands should lie at approximately every oc-tave above 30 MHz and should have bandwidths ofabout 1 percent of the center frequency

space-borne radio communications is regulatedon a collaborative international basisWhat is not widely acknowledged is that thedevelopment of the latest generation telecom-munication networks (both from space andfrom Earth) already has a profound impacton radio-astronomical observations (at all sub-bands) with LEO satellite fleets it is quite surethat the situation could become unbearableIn particular low Earth orbit satellitersquos spec-tral windows identified to communicate withearth stations in the Ku (12-18GHz) Ka (27-40GHz) and V (40-75GHz) bands will over-lap with the nominal radio-astronomy bandsand so will interfere with ground radio tele-scopes and radio interferometers making theradio detectors enter in a non-linear regime inthe K band (18-265GHz) and in Q band (33-50GHz) This fact will irreparably compromisethe whole chain of analysis in those bands withrepercussions on our understanding of the Uni-verse or even making the astrophysics com-munity blind to these spectral windows fromthe ground see Fig 6There are different projects in development forground based radio-astronomy that will signif-icantly overlap with telecommunication signalscoming from the satellitesrsquo constellations in or-bit

bull The Next Generation Very Large Ar-ray ngVLA and ngVLA Long Base-line Array LBA [18] located in NewMexico west Texas Arizona and north-ern Mexico The VLA will use 6 radio-bands 24GHz 8GHz 16GHz 27GHz41GHz and 93GHz

bull The Square Kilometer Array SKA[19] [23] will interfere with Ku satellitescommunication bands

bull The Atacama Large Millimeter Ar-ray ALMA [22] the world-leading mmand sub-mm observatory built in At-acama Chile with enormous expensesspent by a broad international communityfacility that has brought us many signifi-cant discoveries and played a crucial role

10

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

Figure 1 First orbital planes of Starlink satellites after the 21 January 2020 launch of 60satellites by the Falcon-X rocket to reach the total number of orbiting satellites of 240 Star-linkSpaceX systems will be turned on at 420 satellites while the first broad band internetservice will be provided once ~1000 satellites will be deployed The red arrows indicates theFalcon9 orbiting bucket and the experimental Starlink DARKSAT with an experimental coatingto make it less reflective and thus impact ground-based astronomical observations less

ical satellites which are not affected by re-flections of the satellites As introduced inthe second section for astronomical satellitesmissions costs and limitations on sizeweightpreclude the launch of particularly large tele-scopes thus the difficulty in repairing andmaintaining telescopes in space means thatthe newest most revolutionary technologies areimplemented only on ground-based telescopesGround based telescopes are fundamental toastronomy and the international communityand single states have invested for these groundbased projects in past years several tens of bil-lions of dollarseuro trillions of dollars there-fore they are requested to produce high rateof scientific results to repay the initial publicinvestment received

What is really damaging such scientific resultsis the sky degradation This is not only due tosky-glow light pollution in the sky near cities

and the most populated areas (see Fig 2) butit is also due to artificial satellite fleets crossingand scarring observations with bright parallelstreakstrails at all latitudes

Astronomers are extremely concerned by thepossibility that sky seen from Earth may beblanketed by tens of thousands of satelliteswhich will greatly outnumber the approxi-mately 9000 stars that are visible to the un-aided human eye This is not some distantthreat it is already happening As seen insection 3 the US private company SpaceX hasalready put 240 of these small satellites col-lectively called Starlink in the sky and plansto constellate the whole sky with about 42000satellites Thus together with other telecom-munication space projects in the near future(see sect11) in a very short term there could beover 50000 small satellites encircling the Earth(at different altitudes) each of them damaging

5

Constellation Name n Satellites Altitude [km] Bands ServStartSpaceX - Starlink (USA) 42000 1150 550 340 Ku Ka V 2020

OneWeb (UK) 5260 1200 Ku 2020Telesat (CAN) 512 ~1000 Ka 2022

Amazon - Kuiper (USA) 3236 590 630 610 2021Lynk (USA) thousands 2023

Facebook (USA) thousands 500-550 2021Roscosmos (RU) 640 870 2022-2026

Aerospace SciCorp (CHI) 156 ~1000 2022

Table 1 Satellite-Constellation projects comparison

astronomical observationsThe closeness of satellites in LEO makes themmore visible and brighter in the night sky es-pecially when lighted by the Sun (eg satelliteslaunched by SpaceX are brighter than 99 per-cent of the population of objects visible by theEarth orbit )As comparison the current total number ofcataloged objects in Earth orbit is less than20000 among spacecrafts rocket bodies frag-mented mission and other related debrids sowith only the nominal Starlink fleet the to-tal number of orbiting objects will increase of300 (see Fig 2 and 3)3

In the mid and long term this will severely di-minish our view of the Universe create morespace debris and deprive humanity of an un-blemished view of the night skyIt has been considered that most of these satel-lites will be visible to the naked eye (witha brightness between the 3rd and 7th magni-tude) particularly in the time after sunset andbefore sunrise Consequently they will reach

3It has been estimated that here are over 500000non-cataloged pieces of space debris from the size ofone square cm (or larger) orbiting the Earth travelingup to 17500 mph millions of others are untraceablein addition to the around 20000 cataloged objects inEarth orbit In 1978 this scenario was predicted by DJKessler [30] warning governments about the devastat-ing cascading effect of collision-induced debris creation(the so-called Kessler syndrome) The increase numberof LEO satellites makes the creation of a dense debridsnetwork belt around the Earth a possible scenario withdevastating consequences for the future of space explo-ration and telecommunications too

the brightness of the stars in the Ursa Minorconstellation There are only 172 stars in thewhole sky exceeding the expected brightness ofStarlink satellites (see Tab 2) Higher altitudeLEO satellites (eg over 1000km-altitude) willbe visible all the night reaching approximatelythe 8th magnitude

Table 2 Stars Apparent Magnitudes compar-isons

The most important contribution on pollutionof astronomical images comes from the satel-lites in the higher orbits since the light directlyreflected by the Sun make them brighter dur-ing the night instead lower altitude satellites

6

Figure 2 Effect of Sky-glow and cut-off angle showing the relative impact of a luminairersquosoutput contribution to skyglow Picture taken from ldquoStarlight a Common Heritagerdquo CiprianoMarin IAC - ESP

Figure 3 a) Number of object in the Earthrsquos orbit and b) Number of artificial crossing bodiesduring an observing night

are foreseen to contribute negatively only fewhours after sunset and before sun dawn It ispossible to predict the range of variability ofapparent magnitudes of the LEO satellites de-pending on the position and the altitude con-sidering a mean density of about 1 satellite persquare degree (see Fig 4a and 4b and [12] fora whole sky simulation of 12000 Starlink satel-lites at three different altitudes)In Fig 4b illustrates how starlink orbitalshells (shown in red) are illuminated by theSun when it is at different altitudes below thehorizon We can see that the lower the sunis only the more distant satellites will be illu-minated At certain stages the lowest shellswonrsquot be visible at all but the higher shells

will be visible in the northern part of the skyAlso the swarm of the satellites near the hori-zon will be mostly invisible due to their dis-tance and atmospheric effects It should benoted that the worst case will be experiencedduring the summer in northern half of the skyin the northern hemisphere where the satelliteswill be visible during the entire night thoughtheir brightness will probably be lower than thebright overhead passes after the sunset and be-fore the sunrise The best case will be duringthe winter at midnight when the sky will bevirtually free of any satellites except for thehorizon for details see [28]Thus with 50k satellites the normality willbe a sky crowded with artificial objects every

7

Figure 4 a) Apparent magnitude of satellites during an observing night depending on thealtitude b) Illumination factor depending on the Sun altitude of the three orbital shells forStarlink satellites For OneWeb satellites the expected illumination fraction will be the same ofhighest starlink orbital shell see [28]

square degree of the sky will have a satellitecrawling in it along the whole observing nightaccessible and visible by astronomical camerasand not only by professional instrumentationIt should also be noted that during nominal ser-vice operations SpaceX expects to dismiss andreplace from 2000 to 8000 Starlink satellitesevery year disintegrating them in the lower at-mosphere with all related issues see [27] page4-5 for details

41 Impacts on ground based op-tical astronomy

Wide-field survey telescopes will be particu-larly damaged by the presence of multiple sat-urated trails within camera images

bull LSST [5] capable to scan and perform asurvey of the entire sky in three nights

bull VST [6] with its 268MegaPixels cameraand a FOV of 1 square degree

bull Pan-STARRS [7] with its FOV of 7 squaredegrees and 14 Giga pixels camera

Also deeplong exposures with small-field fa-cilities will be unavoidably impaired see Fig5 and [12]This have also a dramatic impact on our safetybecause large area astronomical observations

and sky surveys are commonly used in searchfor Near Earth Objects NEOs asteroids mon-itoring and other related searches to guardthe Earth from potential impact events suchsatellite constellations could negatively impacton the ability to prevent and warn the wholehumankindThe light pollution is extremely damaging forastronomical observations at all wavelengthsTo minimize the quantity of light reflected byLEO satellites Starlink has put in orbit an ex-perimental version of the Starlink satellites (Starlink satellite n1130 DARKSAT see Fign1) making use of a non-reflecting paint onthe body It is not clear how this coating willreduce the brightness of the satellite since it isnot possible to cover solar panels which repre-sents 75 of the satellite reflecting surfaceIf the satellite body will be inhibited to reflectthe sun light it will absorb radiation warm-ing too much with possibile failures thus willprobably increase the risk management for thewhole fleet and make the dark-coating solutionineffective or even counterproductiveMoreover even if the brightness of the experi-mental satellite would be below the naked eyesensitivity astronomical images will continueto see them (with resulting damage to theirscientific content)Thus degradation for scientific observationswill remain high also with coating for three dif-

8

Figure 5 Few Starlink satellites visible in a mosaic of an astronomical image (courtesy of NSFrsquosNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research LaboratoryNSFAURACTIODELVE)

ferent reasons

1 Astronomical deep field camera imageswill continue to have trails in long expo-sures depending on the filter limiting mag-nitude

2 Astronomical objects in the sky will beeclipsed this will probably harm time-dependent (variability) studies

3 The reflectivity of a surface depends onthe observational wavelength so what be-comes dark in one part of the spectrum(eg visible) will remains bright in otherparts of the spectrum (eg infrared or ra-dio)

42 Impacts on ground basedradio-astronomy

Even with best coating and mitigation proce-dures to decrease the impacto on visual astro-nomical observations what it is often omit-ted or forgotten is that telecommunication con-stellations will shine in the radio wavelengthsbands observable from the groundThe scientific needs of radio astronomers andother users of the passive services for the al-location of frequencies were first stated at theWorld Administrative Radio Conference heldin 1959 (WARC-59) At that time the generalpattern of a frequency-allocation scheme was

1 that the science of radio astronomy shouldbe recognized as a service in the Ra-

9

dio Regulations of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)

2 that a series of bands of frequenciesshould be set aside internationally forradio astronomy4

3 that special international protectionshould be afforded to the hydrogenline (1400-1427 MHz) the hydroxyl(OH) lines (1645-1675 MHz) and tothe predicted deuterium line (322-329MHz)

Since 1959 a large number of spectral lines froma wide variety of atoms and molecules in spacehave been discovered then the frequency rangeof radio astronomy now extends to at least500 GHz In particular frequencies of the COmolecule (at 115 230 and 345 GHz) isotopes(at 110 220 and 330 GHz) and the maser ofH2O at 22235GHz [29] are critical to manyaspects of astronomy see also [21]Radio astronomers have been engaged fordecades in the work of the United NationsAgency ITU to regulate the international use ofthe radio frequency spectrum Their efforts en-sured a limited number of narrow bands of thespectrum received protection to allow radio as-tronomy to develop and conduct essential andunique researchDespite the special international protectionfor Radio-astronomy some sources of radiofrequency interference (RFI) are inescapableWhile radio astronomers can minimize the ef-fects of many terrestrial sources by placingtheir telescopes at remote sites none can es-cape from RFI generated by satellite trans-mitters such as those of the Iridium SystemSpaceX and othersWhilst there is legislation in place where radioobservatories are placed (eg at the two SKAsites in Australia and South Africa) to protectthe telescopes from ground-based radio inter-ference at those frequencies the use of air and

4These bands should lie at approximately every oc-tave above 30 MHz and should have bandwidths ofabout 1 percent of the center frequency

space-borne radio communications is regulatedon a collaborative international basisWhat is not widely acknowledged is that thedevelopment of the latest generation telecom-munication networks (both from space andfrom Earth) already has a profound impacton radio-astronomical observations (at all sub-bands) with LEO satellite fleets it is quite surethat the situation could become unbearableIn particular low Earth orbit satellitersquos spec-tral windows identified to communicate withearth stations in the Ku (12-18GHz) Ka (27-40GHz) and V (40-75GHz) bands will over-lap with the nominal radio-astronomy bandsand so will interfere with ground radio tele-scopes and radio interferometers making theradio detectors enter in a non-linear regime inthe K band (18-265GHz) and in Q band (33-50GHz) This fact will irreparably compromisethe whole chain of analysis in those bands withrepercussions on our understanding of the Uni-verse or even making the astrophysics com-munity blind to these spectral windows fromthe ground see Fig 6There are different projects in development forground based radio-astronomy that will signif-icantly overlap with telecommunication signalscoming from the satellitesrsquo constellations in or-bit

bull The Next Generation Very Large Ar-ray ngVLA and ngVLA Long Base-line Array LBA [18] located in NewMexico west Texas Arizona and north-ern Mexico The VLA will use 6 radio-bands 24GHz 8GHz 16GHz 27GHz41GHz and 93GHz

bull The Square Kilometer Array SKA[19] [23] will interfere with Ku satellitescommunication bands

bull The Atacama Large Millimeter Ar-ray ALMA [22] the world-leading mmand sub-mm observatory built in At-acama Chile with enormous expensesspent by a broad international communityfacility that has brought us many signifi-cant discoveries and played a crucial role

10

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

Constellation Name n Satellites Altitude [km] Bands ServStartSpaceX - Starlink (USA) 42000 1150 550 340 Ku Ka V 2020

OneWeb (UK) 5260 1200 Ku 2020Telesat (CAN) 512 ~1000 Ka 2022

Amazon - Kuiper (USA) 3236 590 630 610 2021Lynk (USA) thousands 2023

Facebook (USA) thousands 500-550 2021Roscosmos (RU) 640 870 2022-2026

Aerospace SciCorp (CHI) 156 ~1000 2022

Table 1 Satellite-Constellation projects comparison

astronomical observationsThe closeness of satellites in LEO makes themmore visible and brighter in the night sky es-pecially when lighted by the Sun (eg satelliteslaunched by SpaceX are brighter than 99 per-cent of the population of objects visible by theEarth orbit )As comparison the current total number ofcataloged objects in Earth orbit is less than20000 among spacecrafts rocket bodies frag-mented mission and other related debrids sowith only the nominal Starlink fleet the to-tal number of orbiting objects will increase of300 (see Fig 2 and 3)3

In the mid and long term this will severely di-minish our view of the Universe create morespace debris and deprive humanity of an un-blemished view of the night skyIt has been considered that most of these satel-lites will be visible to the naked eye (witha brightness between the 3rd and 7th magni-tude) particularly in the time after sunset andbefore sunrise Consequently they will reach

3It has been estimated that here are over 500000non-cataloged pieces of space debris from the size ofone square cm (or larger) orbiting the Earth travelingup to 17500 mph millions of others are untraceablein addition to the around 20000 cataloged objects inEarth orbit In 1978 this scenario was predicted by DJKessler [30] warning governments about the devastat-ing cascading effect of collision-induced debris creation(the so-called Kessler syndrome) The increase numberof LEO satellites makes the creation of a dense debridsnetwork belt around the Earth a possible scenario withdevastating consequences for the future of space explo-ration and telecommunications too

the brightness of the stars in the Ursa Minorconstellation There are only 172 stars in thewhole sky exceeding the expected brightness ofStarlink satellites (see Tab 2) Higher altitudeLEO satellites (eg over 1000km-altitude) willbe visible all the night reaching approximatelythe 8th magnitude

Table 2 Stars Apparent Magnitudes compar-isons

The most important contribution on pollutionof astronomical images comes from the satel-lites in the higher orbits since the light directlyreflected by the Sun make them brighter dur-ing the night instead lower altitude satellites

6

Figure 2 Effect of Sky-glow and cut-off angle showing the relative impact of a luminairersquosoutput contribution to skyglow Picture taken from ldquoStarlight a Common Heritagerdquo CiprianoMarin IAC - ESP

Figure 3 a) Number of object in the Earthrsquos orbit and b) Number of artificial crossing bodiesduring an observing night

are foreseen to contribute negatively only fewhours after sunset and before sun dawn It ispossible to predict the range of variability ofapparent magnitudes of the LEO satellites de-pending on the position and the altitude con-sidering a mean density of about 1 satellite persquare degree (see Fig 4a and 4b and [12] fora whole sky simulation of 12000 Starlink satel-lites at three different altitudes)In Fig 4b illustrates how starlink orbitalshells (shown in red) are illuminated by theSun when it is at different altitudes below thehorizon We can see that the lower the sunis only the more distant satellites will be illu-minated At certain stages the lowest shellswonrsquot be visible at all but the higher shells

will be visible in the northern part of the skyAlso the swarm of the satellites near the hori-zon will be mostly invisible due to their dis-tance and atmospheric effects It should benoted that the worst case will be experiencedduring the summer in northern half of the skyin the northern hemisphere where the satelliteswill be visible during the entire night thoughtheir brightness will probably be lower than thebright overhead passes after the sunset and be-fore the sunrise The best case will be duringthe winter at midnight when the sky will bevirtually free of any satellites except for thehorizon for details see [28]Thus with 50k satellites the normality willbe a sky crowded with artificial objects every

7

Figure 4 a) Apparent magnitude of satellites during an observing night depending on thealtitude b) Illumination factor depending on the Sun altitude of the three orbital shells forStarlink satellites For OneWeb satellites the expected illumination fraction will be the same ofhighest starlink orbital shell see [28]

square degree of the sky will have a satellitecrawling in it along the whole observing nightaccessible and visible by astronomical camerasand not only by professional instrumentationIt should also be noted that during nominal ser-vice operations SpaceX expects to dismiss andreplace from 2000 to 8000 Starlink satellitesevery year disintegrating them in the lower at-mosphere with all related issues see [27] page4-5 for details

41 Impacts on ground based op-tical astronomy

Wide-field survey telescopes will be particu-larly damaged by the presence of multiple sat-urated trails within camera images

bull LSST [5] capable to scan and perform asurvey of the entire sky in three nights

bull VST [6] with its 268MegaPixels cameraand a FOV of 1 square degree

bull Pan-STARRS [7] with its FOV of 7 squaredegrees and 14 Giga pixels camera

Also deeplong exposures with small-field fa-cilities will be unavoidably impaired see Fig5 and [12]This have also a dramatic impact on our safetybecause large area astronomical observations

and sky surveys are commonly used in searchfor Near Earth Objects NEOs asteroids mon-itoring and other related searches to guardthe Earth from potential impact events suchsatellite constellations could negatively impacton the ability to prevent and warn the wholehumankindThe light pollution is extremely damaging forastronomical observations at all wavelengthsTo minimize the quantity of light reflected byLEO satellites Starlink has put in orbit an ex-perimental version of the Starlink satellites (Starlink satellite n1130 DARKSAT see Fign1) making use of a non-reflecting paint onthe body It is not clear how this coating willreduce the brightness of the satellite since it isnot possible to cover solar panels which repre-sents 75 of the satellite reflecting surfaceIf the satellite body will be inhibited to reflectthe sun light it will absorb radiation warm-ing too much with possibile failures thus willprobably increase the risk management for thewhole fleet and make the dark-coating solutionineffective or even counterproductiveMoreover even if the brightness of the experi-mental satellite would be below the naked eyesensitivity astronomical images will continueto see them (with resulting damage to theirscientific content)Thus degradation for scientific observationswill remain high also with coating for three dif-

8

Figure 5 Few Starlink satellites visible in a mosaic of an astronomical image (courtesy of NSFrsquosNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research LaboratoryNSFAURACTIODELVE)

ferent reasons

1 Astronomical deep field camera imageswill continue to have trails in long expo-sures depending on the filter limiting mag-nitude

2 Astronomical objects in the sky will beeclipsed this will probably harm time-dependent (variability) studies

3 The reflectivity of a surface depends onthe observational wavelength so what be-comes dark in one part of the spectrum(eg visible) will remains bright in otherparts of the spectrum (eg infrared or ra-dio)

42 Impacts on ground basedradio-astronomy

Even with best coating and mitigation proce-dures to decrease the impacto on visual astro-nomical observations what it is often omit-ted or forgotten is that telecommunication con-stellations will shine in the radio wavelengthsbands observable from the groundThe scientific needs of radio astronomers andother users of the passive services for the al-location of frequencies were first stated at theWorld Administrative Radio Conference heldin 1959 (WARC-59) At that time the generalpattern of a frequency-allocation scheme was

1 that the science of radio astronomy shouldbe recognized as a service in the Ra-

9

dio Regulations of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)

2 that a series of bands of frequenciesshould be set aside internationally forradio astronomy4

3 that special international protectionshould be afforded to the hydrogenline (1400-1427 MHz) the hydroxyl(OH) lines (1645-1675 MHz) and tothe predicted deuterium line (322-329MHz)

Since 1959 a large number of spectral lines froma wide variety of atoms and molecules in spacehave been discovered then the frequency rangeof radio astronomy now extends to at least500 GHz In particular frequencies of the COmolecule (at 115 230 and 345 GHz) isotopes(at 110 220 and 330 GHz) and the maser ofH2O at 22235GHz [29] are critical to manyaspects of astronomy see also [21]Radio astronomers have been engaged fordecades in the work of the United NationsAgency ITU to regulate the international use ofthe radio frequency spectrum Their efforts en-sured a limited number of narrow bands of thespectrum received protection to allow radio as-tronomy to develop and conduct essential andunique researchDespite the special international protectionfor Radio-astronomy some sources of radiofrequency interference (RFI) are inescapableWhile radio astronomers can minimize the ef-fects of many terrestrial sources by placingtheir telescopes at remote sites none can es-cape from RFI generated by satellite trans-mitters such as those of the Iridium SystemSpaceX and othersWhilst there is legislation in place where radioobservatories are placed (eg at the two SKAsites in Australia and South Africa) to protectthe telescopes from ground-based radio inter-ference at those frequencies the use of air and

4These bands should lie at approximately every oc-tave above 30 MHz and should have bandwidths ofabout 1 percent of the center frequency

space-borne radio communications is regulatedon a collaborative international basisWhat is not widely acknowledged is that thedevelopment of the latest generation telecom-munication networks (both from space andfrom Earth) already has a profound impacton radio-astronomical observations (at all sub-bands) with LEO satellite fleets it is quite surethat the situation could become unbearableIn particular low Earth orbit satellitersquos spec-tral windows identified to communicate withearth stations in the Ku (12-18GHz) Ka (27-40GHz) and V (40-75GHz) bands will over-lap with the nominal radio-astronomy bandsand so will interfere with ground radio tele-scopes and radio interferometers making theradio detectors enter in a non-linear regime inthe K band (18-265GHz) and in Q band (33-50GHz) This fact will irreparably compromisethe whole chain of analysis in those bands withrepercussions on our understanding of the Uni-verse or even making the astrophysics com-munity blind to these spectral windows fromthe ground see Fig 6There are different projects in development forground based radio-astronomy that will signif-icantly overlap with telecommunication signalscoming from the satellitesrsquo constellations in or-bit

bull The Next Generation Very Large Ar-ray ngVLA and ngVLA Long Base-line Array LBA [18] located in NewMexico west Texas Arizona and north-ern Mexico The VLA will use 6 radio-bands 24GHz 8GHz 16GHz 27GHz41GHz and 93GHz

bull The Square Kilometer Array SKA[19] [23] will interfere with Ku satellitescommunication bands

bull The Atacama Large Millimeter Ar-ray ALMA [22] the world-leading mmand sub-mm observatory built in At-acama Chile with enormous expensesspent by a broad international communityfacility that has brought us many signifi-cant discoveries and played a crucial role

10

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

Figure 2 Effect of Sky-glow and cut-off angle showing the relative impact of a luminairersquosoutput contribution to skyglow Picture taken from ldquoStarlight a Common Heritagerdquo CiprianoMarin IAC - ESP

Figure 3 a) Number of object in the Earthrsquos orbit and b) Number of artificial crossing bodiesduring an observing night

are foreseen to contribute negatively only fewhours after sunset and before sun dawn It ispossible to predict the range of variability ofapparent magnitudes of the LEO satellites de-pending on the position and the altitude con-sidering a mean density of about 1 satellite persquare degree (see Fig 4a and 4b and [12] fora whole sky simulation of 12000 Starlink satel-lites at three different altitudes)In Fig 4b illustrates how starlink orbitalshells (shown in red) are illuminated by theSun when it is at different altitudes below thehorizon We can see that the lower the sunis only the more distant satellites will be illu-minated At certain stages the lowest shellswonrsquot be visible at all but the higher shells

will be visible in the northern part of the skyAlso the swarm of the satellites near the hori-zon will be mostly invisible due to their dis-tance and atmospheric effects It should benoted that the worst case will be experiencedduring the summer in northern half of the skyin the northern hemisphere where the satelliteswill be visible during the entire night thoughtheir brightness will probably be lower than thebright overhead passes after the sunset and be-fore the sunrise The best case will be duringthe winter at midnight when the sky will bevirtually free of any satellites except for thehorizon for details see [28]Thus with 50k satellites the normality willbe a sky crowded with artificial objects every

7

Figure 4 a) Apparent magnitude of satellites during an observing night depending on thealtitude b) Illumination factor depending on the Sun altitude of the three orbital shells forStarlink satellites For OneWeb satellites the expected illumination fraction will be the same ofhighest starlink orbital shell see [28]

square degree of the sky will have a satellitecrawling in it along the whole observing nightaccessible and visible by astronomical camerasand not only by professional instrumentationIt should also be noted that during nominal ser-vice operations SpaceX expects to dismiss andreplace from 2000 to 8000 Starlink satellitesevery year disintegrating them in the lower at-mosphere with all related issues see [27] page4-5 for details

41 Impacts on ground based op-tical astronomy

Wide-field survey telescopes will be particu-larly damaged by the presence of multiple sat-urated trails within camera images

bull LSST [5] capable to scan and perform asurvey of the entire sky in three nights

bull VST [6] with its 268MegaPixels cameraand a FOV of 1 square degree

bull Pan-STARRS [7] with its FOV of 7 squaredegrees and 14 Giga pixels camera

Also deeplong exposures with small-field fa-cilities will be unavoidably impaired see Fig5 and [12]This have also a dramatic impact on our safetybecause large area astronomical observations

and sky surveys are commonly used in searchfor Near Earth Objects NEOs asteroids mon-itoring and other related searches to guardthe Earth from potential impact events suchsatellite constellations could negatively impacton the ability to prevent and warn the wholehumankindThe light pollution is extremely damaging forastronomical observations at all wavelengthsTo minimize the quantity of light reflected byLEO satellites Starlink has put in orbit an ex-perimental version of the Starlink satellites (Starlink satellite n1130 DARKSAT see Fign1) making use of a non-reflecting paint onthe body It is not clear how this coating willreduce the brightness of the satellite since it isnot possible to cover solar panels which repre-sents 75 of the satellite reflecting surfaceIf the satellite body will be inhibited to reflectthe sun light it will absorb radiation warm-ing too much with possibile failures thus willprobably increase the risk management for thewhole fleet and make the dark-coating solutionineffective or even counterproductiveMoreover even if the brightness of the experi-mental satellite would be below the naked eyesensitivity astronomical images will continueto see them (with resulting damage to theirscientific content)Thus degradation for scientific observationswill remain high also with coating for three dif-

8

Figure 5 Few Starlink satellites visible in a mosaic of an astronomical image (courtesy of NSFrsquosNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research LaboratoryNSFAURACTIODELVE)

ferent reasons

1 Astronomical deep field camera imageswill continue to have trails in long expo-sures depending on the filter limiting mag-nitude

2 Astronomical objects in the sky will beeclipsed this will probably harm time-dependent (variability) studies

3 The reflectivity of a surface depends onthe observational wavelength so what be-comes dark in one part of the spectrum(eg visible) will remains bright in otherparts of the spectrum (eg infrared or ra-dio)

42 Impacts on ground basedradio-astronomy

Even with best coating and mitigation proce-dures to decrease the impacto on visual astro-nomical observations what it is often omit-ted or forgotten is that telecommunication con-stellations will shine in the radio wavelengthsbands observable from the groundThe scientific needs of radio astronomers andother users of the passive services for the al-location of frequencies were first stated at theWorld Administrative Radio Conference heldin 1959 (WARC-59) At that time the generalpattern of a frequency-allocation scheme was

1 that the science of radio astronomy shouldbe recognized as a service in the Ra-

9

dio Regulations of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)

2 that a series of bands of frequenciesshould be set aside internationally forradio astronomy4

3 that special international protectionshould be afforded to the hydrogenline (1400-1427 MHz) the hydroxyl(OH) lines (1645-1675 MHz) and tothe predicted deuterium line (322-329MHz)

Since 1959 a large number of spectral lines froma wide variety of atoms and molecules in spacehave been discovered then the frequency rangeof radio astronomy now extends to at least500 GHz In particular frequencies of the COmolecule (at 115 230 and 345 GHz) isotopes(at 110 220 and 330 GHz) and the maser ofH2O at 22235GHz [29] are critical to manyaspects of astronomy see also [21]Radio astronomers have been engaged fordecades in the work of the United NationsAgency ITU to regulate the international use ofthe radio frequency spectrum Their efforts en-sured a limited number of narrow bands of thespectrum received protection to allow radio as-tronomy to develop and conduct essential andunique researchDespite the special international protectionfor Radio-astronomy some sources of radiofrequency interference (RFI) are inescapableWhile radio astronomers can minimize the ef-fects of many terrestrial sources by placingtheir telescopes at remote sites none can es-cape from RFI generated by satellite trans-mitters such as those of the Iridium SystemSpaceX and othersWhilst there is legislation in place where radioobservatories are placed (eg at the two SKAsites in Australia and South Africa) to protectthe telescopes from ground-based radio inter-ference at those frequencies the use of air and

4These bands should lie at approximately every oc-tave above 30 MHz and should have bandwidths ofabout 1 percent of the center frequency

space-borne radio communications is regulatedon a collaborative international basisWhat is not widely acknowledged is that thedevelopment of the latest generation telecom-munication networks (both from space andfrom Earth) already has a profound impacton radio-astronomical observations (at all sub-bands) with LEO satellite fleets it is quite surethat the situation could become unbearableIn particular low Earth orbit satellitersquos spec-tral windows identified to communicate withearth stations in the Ku (12-18GHz) Ka (27-40GHz) and V (40-75GHz) bands will over-lap with the nominal radio-astronomy bandsand so will interfere with ground radio tele-scopes and radio interferometers making theradio detectors enter in a non-linear regime inthe K band (18-265GHz) and in Q band (33-50GHz) This fact will irreparably compromisethe whole chain of analysis in those bands withrepercussions on our understanding of the Uni-verse or even making the astrophysics com-munity blind to these spectral windows fromthe ground see Fig 6There are different projects in development forground based radio-astronomy that will signif-icantly overlap with telecommunication signalscoming from the satellitesrsquo constellations in or-bit

bull The Next Generation Very Large Ar-ray ngVLA and ngVLA Long Base-line Array LBA [18] located in NewMexico west Texas Arizona and north-ern Mexico The VLA will use 6 radio-bands 24GHz 8GHz 16GHz 27GHz41GHz and 93GHz

bull The Square Kilometer Array SKA[19] [23] will interfere with Ku satellitescommunication bands

bull The Atacama Large Millimeter Ar-ray ALMA [22] the world-leading mmand sub-mm observatory built in At-acama Chile with enormous expensesspent by a broad international communityfacility that has brought us many signifi-cant discoveries and played a crucial role

10

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

Figure 4 a) Apparent magnitude of satellites during an observing night depending on thealtitude b) Illumination factor depending on the Sun altitude of the three orbital shells forStarlink satellites For OneWeb satellites the expected illumination fraction will be the same ofhighest starlink orbital shell see [28]

square degree of the sky will have a satellitecrawling in it along the whole observing nightaccessible and visible by astronomical camerasand not only by professional instrumentationIt should also be noted that during nominal ser-vice operations SpaceX expects to dismiss andreplace from 2000 to 8000 Starlink satellitesevery year disintegrating them in the lower at-mosphere with all related issues see [27] page4-5 for details

41 Impacts on ground based op-tical astronomy

Wide-field survey telescopes will be particu-larly damaged by the presence of multiple sat-urated trails within camera images

bull LSST [5] capable to scan and perform asurvey of the entire sky in three nights

bull VST [6] with its 268MegaPixels cameraand a FOV of 1 square degree

bull Pan-STARRS [7] with its FOV of 7 squaredegrees and 14 Giga pixels camera

Also deeplong exposures with small-field fa-cilities will be unavoidably impaired see Fig5 and [12]This have also a dramatic impact on our safetybecause large area astronomical observations

and sky surveys are commonly used in searchfor Near Earth Objects NEOs asteroids mon-itoring and other related searches to guardthe Earth from potential impact events suchsatellite constellations could negatively impacton the ability to prevent and warn the wholehumankindThe light pollution is extremely damaging forastronomical observations at all wavelengthsTo minimize the quantity of light reflected byLEO satellites Starlink has put in orbit an ex-perimental version of the Starlink satellites (Starlink satellite n1130 DARKSAT see Fign1) making use of a non-reflecting paint onthe body It is not clear how this coating willreduce the brightness of the satellite since it isnot possible to cover solar panels which repre-sents 75 of the satellite reflecting surfaceIf the satellite body will be inhibited to reflectthe sun light it will absorb radiation warm-ing too much with possibile failures thus willprobably increase the risk management for thewhole fleet and make the dark-coating solutionineffective or even counterproductiveMoreover even if the brightness of the experi-mental satellite would be below the naked eyesensitivity astronomical images will continueto see them (with resulting damage to theirscientific content)Thus degradation for scientific observationswill remain high also with coating for three dif-

8

Figure 5 Few Starlink satellites visible in a mosaic of an astronomical image (courtesy of NSFrsquosNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research LaboratoryNSFAURACTIODELVE)

ferent reasons

1 Astronomical deep field camera imageswill continue to have trails in long expo-sures depending on the filter limiting mag-nitude

2 Astronomical objects in the sky will beeclipsed this will probably harm time-dependent (variability) studies

3 The reflectivity of a surface depends onthe observational wavelength so what be-comes dark in one part of the spectrum(eg visible) will remains bright in otherparts of the spectrum (eg infrared or ra-dio)

42 Impacts on ground basedradio-astronomy

Even with best coating and mitigation proce-dures to decrease the impacto on visual astro-nomical observations what it is often omit-ted or forgotten is that telecommunication con-stellations will shine in the radio wavelengthsbands observable from the groundThe scientific needs of radio astronomers andother users of the passive services for the al-location of frequencies were first stated at theWorld Administrative Radio Conference heldin 1959 (WARC-59) At that time the generalpattern of a frequency-allocation scheme was

1 that the science of radio astronomy shouldbe recognized as a service in the Ra-

9

dio Regulations of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)

2 that a series of bands of frequenciesshould be set aside internationally forradio astronomy4

3 that special international protectionshould be afforded to the hydrogenline (1400-1427 MHz) the hydroxyl(OH) lines (1645-1675 MHz) and tothe predicted deuterium line (322-329MHz)

Since 1959 a large number of spectral lines froma wide variety of atoms and molecules in spacehave been discovered then the frequency rangeof radio astronomy now extends to at least500 GHz In particular frequencies of the COmolecule (at 115 230 and 345 GHz) isotopes(at 110 220 and 330 GHz) and the maser ofH2O at 22235GHz [29] are critical to manyaspects of astronomy see also [21]Radio astronomers have been engaged fordecades in the work of the United NationsAgency ITU to regulate the international use ofthe radio frequency spectrum Their efforts en-sured a limited number of narrow bands of thespectrum received protection to allow radio as-tronomy to develop and conduct essential andunique researchDespite the special international protectionfor Radio-astronomy some sources of radiofrequency interference (RFI) are inescapableWhile radio astronomers can minimize the ef-fects of many terrestrial sources by placingtheir telescopes at remote sites none can es-cape from RFI generated by satellite trans-mitters such as those of the Iridium SystemSpaceX and othersWhilst there is legislation in place where radioobservatories are placed (eg at the two SKAsites in Australia and South Africa) to protectthe telescopes from ground-based radio inter-ference at those frequencies the use of air and

4These bands should lie at approximately every oc-tave above 30 MHz and should have bandwidths ofabout 1 percent of the center frequency

space-borne radio communications is regulatedon a collaborative international basisWhat is not widely acknowledged is that thedevelopment of the latest generation telecom-munication networks (both from space andfrom Earth) already has a profound impacton radio-astronomical observations (at all sub-bands) with LEO satellite fleets it is quite surethat the situation could become unbearableIn particular low Earth orbit satellitersquos spec-tral windows identified to communicate withearth stations in the Ku (12-18GHz) Ka (27-40GHz) and V (40-75GHz) bands will over-lap with the nominal radio-astronomy bandsand so will interfere with ground radio tele-scopes and radio interferometers making theradio detectors enter in a non-linear regime inthe K band (18-265GHz) and in Q band (33-50GHz) This fact will irreparably compromisethe whole chain of analysis in those bands withrepercussions on our understanding of the Uni-verse or even making the astrophysics com-munity blind to these spectral windows fromthe ground see Fig 6There are different projects in development forground based radio-astronomy that will signif-icantly overlap with telecommunication signalscoming from the satellitesrsquo constellations in or-bit

bull The Next Generation Very Large Ar-ray ngVLA and ngVLA Long Base-line Array LBA [18] located in NewMexico west Texas Arizona and north-ern Mexico The VLA will use 6 radio-bands 24GHz 8GHz 16GHz 27GHz41GHz and 93GHz

bull The Square Kilometer Array SKA[19] [23] will interfere with Ku satellitescommunication bands

bull The Atacama Large Millimeter Ar-ray ALMA [22] the world-leading mmand sub-mm observatory built in At-acama Chile with enormous expensesspent by a broad international communityfacility that has brought us many signifi-cant discoveries and played a crucial role

10

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

Figure 5 Few Starlink satellites visible in a mosaic of an astronomical image (courtesy of NSFrsquosNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research LaboratoryNSFAURACTIODELVE)

ferent reasons

1 Astronomical deep field camera imageswill continue to have trails in long expo-sures depending on the filter limiting mag-nitude

2 Astronomical objects in the sky will beeclipsed this will probably harm time-dependent (variability) studies

3 The reflectivity of a surface depends onthe observational wavelength so what be-comes dark in one part of the spectrum(eg visible) will remains bright in otherparts of the spectrum (eg infrared or ra-dio)

42 Impacts on ground basedradio-astronomy

Even with best coating and mitigation proce-dures to decrease the impacto on visual astro-nomical observations what it is often omit-ted or forgotten is that telecommunication con-stellations will shine in the radio wavelengthsbands observable from the groundThe scientific needs of radio astronomers andother users of the passive services for the al-location of frequencies were first stated at theWorld Administrative Radio Conference heldin 1959 (WARC-59) At that time the generalpattern of a frequency-allocation scheme was

1 that the science of radio astronomy shouldbe recognized as a service in the Ra-

9

dio Regulations of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)

2 that a series of bands of frequenciesshould be set aside internationally forradio astronomy4

3 that special international protectionshould be afforded to the hydrogenline (1400-1427 MHz) the hydroxyl(OH) lines (1645-1675 MHz) and tothe predicted deuterium line (322-329MHz)

Since 1959 a large number of spectral lines froma wide variety of atoms and molecules in spacehave been discovered then the frequency rangeof radio astronomy now extends to at least500 GHz In particular frequencies of the COmolecule (at 115 230 and 345 GHz) isotopes(at 110 220 and 330 GHz) and the maser ofH2O at 22235GHz [29] are critical to manyaspects of astronomy see also [21]Radio astronomers have been engaged fordecades in the work of the United NationsAgency ITU to regulate the international use ofthe radio frequency spectrum Their efforts en-sured a limited number of narrow bands of thespectrum received protection to allow radio as-tronomy to develop and conduct essential andunique researchDespite the special international protectionfor Radio-astronomy some sources of radiofrequency interference (RFI) are inescapableWhile radio astronomers can minimize the ef-fects of many terrestrial sources by placingtheir telescopes at remote sites none can es-cape from RFI generated by satellite trans-mitters such as those of the Iridium SystemSpaceX and othersWhilst there is legislation in place where radioobservatories are placed (eg at the two SKAsites in Australia and South Africa) to protectthe telescopes from ground-based radio inter-ference at those frequencies the use of air and

4These bands should lie at approximately every oc-tave above 30 MHz and should have bandwidths ofabout 1 percent of the center frequency

space-borne radio communications is regulatedon a collaborative international basisWhat is not widely acknowledged is that thedevelopment of the latest generation telecom-munication networks (both from space andfrom Earth) already has a profound impacton radio-astronomical observations (at all sub-bands) with LEO satellite fleets it is quite surethat the situation could become unbearableIn particular low Earth orbit satellitersquos spec-tral windows identified to communicate withearth stations in the Ku (12-18GHz) Ka (27-40GHz) and V (40-75GHz) bands will over-lap with the nominal radio-astronomy bandsand so will interfere with ground radio tele-scopes and radio interferometers making theradio detectors enter in a non-linear regime inthe K band (18-265GHz) and in Q band (33-50GHz) This fact will irreparably compromisethe whole chain of analysis in those bands withrepercussions on our understanding of the Uni-verse or even making the astrophysics com-munity blind to these spectral windows fromthe ground see Fig 6There are different projects in development forground based radio-astronomy that will signif-icantly overlap with telecommunication signalscoming from the satellitesrsquo constellations in or-bit

bull The Next Generation Very Large Ar-ray ngVLA and ngVLA Long Base-line Array LBA [18] located in NewMexico west Texas Arizona and north-ern Mexico The VLA will use 6 radio-bands 24GHz 8GHz 16GHz 27GHz41GHz and 93GHz

bull The Square Kilometer Array SKA[19] [23] will interfere with Ku satellitescommunication bands

bull The Atacama Large Millimeter Ar-ray ALMA [22] the world-leading mmand sub-mm observatory built in At-acama Chile with enormous expensesspent by a broad international communityfacility that has brought us many signifi-cant discoveries and played a crucial role

10

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

dio Regulations of the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU)

2 that a series of bands of frequenciesshould be set aside internationally forradio astronomy4

3 that special international protectionshould be afforded to the hydrogenline (1400-1427 MHz) the hydroxyl(OH) lines (1645-1675 MHz) and tothe predicted deuterium line (322-329MHz)

Since 1959 a large number of spectral lines froma wide variety of atoms and molecules in spacehave been discovered then the frequency rangeof radio astronomy now extends to at least500 GHz In particular frequencies of the COmolecule (at 115 230 and 345 GHz) isotopes(at 110 220 and 330 GHz) and the maser ofH2O at 22235GHz [29] are critical to manyaspects of astronomy see also [21]Radio astronomers have been engaged fordecades in the work of the United NationsAgency ITU to regulate the international use ofthe radio frequency spectrum Their efforts en-sured a limited number of narrow bands of thespectrum received protection to allow radio as-tronomy to develop and conduct essential andunique researchDespite the special international protectionfor Radio-astronomy some sources of radiofrequency interference (RFI) are inescapableWhile radio astronomers can minimize the ef-fects of many terrestrial sources by placingtheir telescopes at remote sites none can es-cape from RFI generated by satellite trans-mitters such as those of the Iridium SystemSpaceX and othersWhilst there is legislation in place where radioobservatories are placed (eg at the two SKAsites in Australia and South Africa) to protectthe telescopes from ground-based radio inter-ference at those frequencies the use of air and

4These bands should lie at approximately every oc-tave above 30 MHz and should have bandwidths ofabout 1 percent of the center frequency

space-borne radio communications is regulatedon a collaborative international basisWhat is not widely acknowledged is that thedevelopment of the latest generation telecom-munication networks (both from space andfrom Earth) already has a profound impacton radio-astronomical observations (at all sub-bands) with LEO satellite fleets it is quite surethat the situation could become unbearableIn particular low Earth orbit satellitersquos spec-tral windows identified to communicate withearth stations in the Ku (12-18GHz) Ka (27-40GHz) and V (40-75GHz) bands will over-lap with the nominal radio-astronomy bandsand so will interfere with ground radio tele-scopes and radio interferometers making theradio detectors enter in a non-linear regime inthe K band (18-265GHz) and in Q band (33-50GHz) This fact will irreparably compromisethe whole chain of analysis in those bands withrepercussions on our understanding of the Uni-verse or even making the astrophysics com-munity blind to these spectral windows fromthe ground see Fig 6There are different projects in development forground based radio-astronomy that will signif-icantly overlap with telecommunication signalscoming from the satellitesrsquo constellations in or-bit

bull The Next Generation Very Large Ar-ray ngVLA and ngVLA Long Base-line Array LBA [18] located in NewMexico west Texas Arizona and north-ern Mexico The VLA will use 6 radio-bands 24GHz 8GHz 16GHz 27GHz41GHz and 93GHz

bull The Square Kilometer Array SKA[19] [23] will interfere with Ku satellitescommunication bands

bull The Atacama Large Millimeter Ar-ray ALMA [22] the world-leading mmand sub-mm observatory built in At-acama Chile with enormous expensesspent by a broad international communityfacility that has brought us many signifi-cant discoveries and played a crucial role

10

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

Figure 6 Spatial resolution versus frequency set by the maximum baseline of the ngVLAcompared to other existing and planned facilities see [18]

in the global system of EHT (first imageof BH ever published in April 2019) hasits Bands 1 and 2+3 exactly in the poten-tially polluted part of the spectrum

To aggravate the matter with the current tech-nological development the planned density ofradio frequency transmitters is impossible toenvisage In addition to millions of new com-mercial wireless hot spot base stations on Earthdirectly connected to the about 50000 newsatellites in space will produce at least 200billion of new transmitting objects accordingto estimates as part of the Internet of Things(IoT) by 2020-2022 and one trillion of objectsa few years later

Such a large number of radio-emitting objectscould make radio astronomy from ground sta-tions impossible without a real protection madeby countriesrsquo safe zones where radio astronomyfacilities are placed

We wish to avoid that technological develop-ment without serious control turns radio as-tronomy practice into an ancient extinct sci-ence

5 How to protect the Astro-nomical Sky

To answer this question we must remembersome International Conventions and TreatiesThe Preamble of the World Heritage Con-vention holds that ldquothe deterioration or disap-pearance of any item of the cultural or naturalheritage constitutes a harmful impoverishmentof the heritage of all the nations of the worldrdquoThis protection appears again in the 1994 Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights for FutureGenerationsPersons belonging to future genera-tions have the right to an uncontam-inated and undamaged Earth includ-ing pure skies they are entitled toits enjoyment as the ground of humanhistory of culture and social bondsthat make each generation and indi-vidual a member of one human familyThe UNESCO has undertaken activities forthe safeguarding of cultural heritage related toastronomy under the ldquoAstronomy and WorldHeritagerdquo project launched by the World Her-itage Centre in 2003 This concept was taken

11

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

up again by UNESCO in 2005 asThe sky our common and universalheritage is an integral part of theenvironment perceived by humanityHumankind has always observed thesky either to interpret it or to un-derstand the physical laws that gov-ern the universe This interest in as-tronomy has had profound implica-tions for science philosophy reli-gion culture and our general con-ception of the universe

This in turn led to the following conceptsastronomical observations have pro-found implications for the develop-ment of science philosophy religionculture and the general conceptionof the universe discoveries ofastronomers in the field of sciencehave had an influence not only onour understanding of the universebut also on technology mathemat-ics physics and social developmentin general the cultural impact ofastronomy has been marginalized andconfined to a specialized public

These protections for Starlight are necessary asthe impact that Starlight has held on human-ity has been expressed in works of religion artliterature science philosophy business andtravel

Enforcement of the Right to StarlightInternational law enforces interna-tional legal obligations includingproperty interests Here WorldHeritage is the property of all hu-mankind and while there may be pro-tective laws enforcing this is an-other matter as only States cansue other States under this type ofinternational treaty A State isresponsible for the activities thatoccur within its jurisdiction ndashwhether they are authorized orunauthorized

Thus

Within the framework of Interna-tional Law and State based legal in-struments Protection of Starlightcould then be implemented in thesame manner1 Reaffirms the sovereign rights andresponsibilities towards the Inter-national Community of each Statefor the protection of its own cul-tural and natural heritage2 Calls upon the International Com-munity to provide all the possible as-sistance needed to protect and con-serve the cultural and natural her-itage of Starlight3 Invites the authorities of Statesto take appropriate measures in or-der to safeguard the cultural andnatural heritage of Starlight4 Further invites the States to co-operate with UNESCO the WorldHeritage Committee the UNWTOand the Starlight Initiative with aview to ensuring effective protec-tion of its cultural and natural her-itage in StarlightHaving established these rights under interna-tional law the conclusion is that there existduties for both States and international orga-nizations to protect the World Heritage Rightto Starlight as well as their duties to fosterthe rights of travelers hosts and providers oftravel to enjoy this Starlight ldquoproperty inter-estrdquo that belongs to all humanity The existinglegal instruments demonstrate the protectionfor the Right to Starlight but it is the Statesthat act as custodians of World Heritage thatare charged with ensuring these rights are en-forceable and in turn made available to all ofhumanity

51 On the legal side

SpaceX private company has received permis-sion from many USA government agencies (egFederal Communication Commission FCC) tolaunch these satellites into orbit So there

12

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

could be a legal claim within the US legal sys-tem to halt the progress of StarlinkAlso as it turns out according to the OuterSpace Treaty and its progeny there are no pri-vate companies operating in outer space butonly governments can operate in outer spaceAnd the legal process is that the state govern-ment this time the USA government is legallyresponsible for all objects sent into outer spacethat launch from USA borders That meansthat it is the USA government that is respon-sible for the harm caused by its corporationStarlink sending objects into orbit that causeharmSo under this international law any coun-try that suffers harm by Starlink can sue theUnited States government in the InternationalCourt of Justice in the Hague The harm hereis damage to our cultural heritage the nightsky and monetary damages due to the loss ofradio and other types of astronomy For thescientists the owners of the observatories havea legal argument that they have and will con-tinue to lose money spent for their researchbased on Earth based observatories Further-more Universities that own the observatoriesare state owned universities so it is the gov-ernment that owns the observatories that havelost financially because of their interruption ofstudy of the night skiesSo it is essential that a government like ChileItaly or France sues the USA in the Interna-tional Court of JusticeIf no national or international entity willstop this displacement the right of theprivate company SpaceX will becomeacquired at the beginning of March 2020How should the international astronomicalcommunity mobilize in order to stop furtherStarlink launches

1 Sue in court for luminous pollution nottaken into account by US FCC The FCCrsquoslack of review of these commercial satel-lite projects violates the National Environ-mental Policy Act NEPA which obligatesall federal agencies to consider the envi-ronmental impacts of any projects they

approve So in the most basic senseSpaceXrsquos satellites displacement autho-rization would be unlawful see [31]

2 Sue in court for lack of jurisdiction andjurisprudence of US FCC to authorize pri-vate not geostationary satellites over otherstates and nations

3 Sue in the International Court of Jus-tice ICJ the USA government to put onhold further Starlink launches to quan-tify the loss of public finances in damag-ing national and international astronomi-cal projects5

52 From the astronomersrsquo side

An international appealpetition from as-tronomers was launched in January 2020and at the time of writing thousands of as-tronomers involved with astronomical observa-tories and facilities have subscribed the ap-peal see [25] Another open letter hasbeen prepared reguarding same concerns on the

5Though there are no international law that re-strict mega constellations to deploy and dispatch megaconstellations an international agreement among statesis needed since satellites can not be located onlyover a single state (eg USA) but being in LEOthey move around the globe passing over differentstatesnationscontinents This is a lack of jurisdic-tion of FCC authorization In particular the Interna-tional Court of Justice ICJ can be called into questionwhenever there is a dispute of international jurisdic-tion or between member states of the United Nationson the basis of international norms treaties and ortheir violations In the beginning of chapter 5 it was ex-plained how the World Heritage Convention regardingthe ldquoright of night sky starlightrdquo belongs to universalhuman rights and so no state can decide to contravenethis convention if it interferes with the enjoyment ofthat right for other states The pretext for appeal-ing to the United Nations and the International Courtof Justice (ICJ) is the loss of scientific value of theinvestments made for ground based projects by eachstate (damaged by SpaceX) Each damaged state be-ing damaged as conseguence of a violation for an in-ternational treaty the issue cannot be settled with asimple money compensation but with an inhibition ofthe damage before the same occurs (and not after)

13

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

satellites constellations deployment for the fur-ther space missions and to raise awareness toUS Senate and US commisisons on the possi-bility that occurs the Kessler Syndrome whichis a realistic scenario with all these orbiting ob-jects see [32]Requests from the astronomical communityto governments institutions and agencies allaround the world are

1 to be committed to provide legal protec-tion to ground astronomical facilities inall of the available observation electromag-netic windows

2 to put on hold further Starlink launches(and other projects) and carry out an ac-curate moratorium on all technologies thatcan negatively impact astronomical spacebased and ground based observations orimpact on the scientific technological andeconomic investments that each State en-gages in astrophysical projects

3 to put in place a clear evaluation of risksand predictive impacts on astronomicalobservatories (ie loss of scientific andeconomic value) giving stringent guide-lines to private individuals societies andindustries to plan satellite investmentswithout clearly understanding all of thenegative effects on outstanding astronom-ical facilities

4 that the US Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC) and any other nationalagency be wary of granting permission toship non-geostationary low-orbit satellitesinto orbit or alternatively to limit the au-thorization of only satellites being abovethe airspace of the ldquohome countryrdquo

5 to demand a worldwide orchestrationwhere national and international astro-nomical agencies can impose the right ofveto on all those projects that negativelyinterfere with astronomical outstandingfacilities

6 to limit and regulate the number oftelecommunication satellite fleets to theldquostrictly necessary numberrdquo and to putthem in orbit only when old-outdatedtechnology satellites are deorbited accord-ing to the Outer Space Treaty (1967) - theArt IX [8] and the United Nations Guide-lines for the Long-term Sustainability ofOuter Space Activities (2018) ndash guide-line 22(c) [9] requiring the use of outerspace be conducted ldquoso as to avoid [its]harmful contamination and also adversechanges in the environment of the Earthrdquoand [ omissis] risks to people prop-erty public health and the environmentassociated with the launch in-orbit oper-ation and re-entry of space objectsrdquo

6 Conclusions

Avoiding damages in astronomical groundbased observations arised from the displace-ment of satellite constellations is absolutelymandatory for safeguarding not only the eco-nomic and scientific investment committed byinternational institutions and single nationsbut also to continue efficiently to monitor pos-sible impact events to guard and alert the hu-mankindAll of these requests come from the heartfeltconcern of scientists arising from threatens tobe barred from accessing the full knowledge ofthe Cosmos and the loss of an intangible as-set of immeasurable value for humanity Inthis context it is absolutely necessary to putin place all possible measures to protect thenight sky right also on the legal side as statedby the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsfor Future GenerationsTo ensure this safeguard action it would be de-sirable to adopt contingent and limiting reso-lutions to be ratified as shared internationalrules which must be adopted by all spaceagencies to ensure protection for astronomicalbands observable from the ground All of thisto continue to admire and study our Universefor as long as possible

14

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

In the meanwhile all private displacement ofsatellites constellation project must be put onhold every ldquonationalrdquo authorization to launchnot geostationary LEO satellite fleets must bewithdrawn and avoided as wellOne personrsquos freedom ends where anotherrsquosbegins The public authorities (of every state)are entitled (and obliged) to enforce regula-tions which take care that the above statementcomes true The right to see the sky in naturalstate belongs to our rights and freedoms alikethe right to breath unpolluted air drink cleanwater or sleep in a quiet environment duringthe night

References

[1] International Astronomical UnionIAU statements wwwiauorgann19035

[2] ESO Very Large Telescopewwwesoorgparanal-observatoryvlt

[3] Large Binocular Telescope LBThttpwwwlbtoorg

[4] ESO Extremely Large TelescopeE-ELT wwwesoorgelt

[5] Large Syhoptic Survey TelescopLSST Vera_C_Rubin_Observatory

[6] ESO VLT Survey Telescopesurveytelescopesvst

[7] Pan-STARRS Telescopepanstarrsstsciedu

[8] United Nations Office for OuterSpace Affairs ldquoTreaty on PrinciplesGoverning the Activities of States inthe Exploration and Use of OuterSpace including the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodiesrdquointroouterspacetreatyhtml

[9] Committee on the Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space ldquoGuidelines for theLong-term Sustainability of OuterSpace Activities rdquohttpswwwunoosaorg

[10] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites positions inthe sky wwwyoutubeLGBuk2BTvJE

[11] Simulated prediction of ldquoonlyrdquo12k Starlink satellites naked eye viewof the skywwwyoutubecom9hQfKd9kfA

[12] Visualization tool to find plotand search satellite orbitshttpscelestrakcomorbit-viz

[13] Phil Cameron ldquoThe right toStarlight Under International Lawrdquo

[14] Starlight Initiative ldquoDeclarationin defense of the night sky and theright to starlightrdquostarlightdeclaration

[15] Marian Cipriano ldquoStarlight acommon heritagerdquo Published online byCambridge University Press 29 June2011

[16] Marin C and Jafar J (eds)2008Starlight A commonHeritage(Tenerife Instituto deAs-trofacuteısica de Canarias)

[17] Starlight Scientific CommitteeReport 2009Starlight Reserve Concepthttpwwwstarlight2007net

[18] AJ Beasley E Murphy RSelina M McKinnon amp the ngVLAProject Team ldquoThe Next GenerationVery Large Array (ngVLA)rdquo NRAO

A citation []

15

[19] Square Kilometer Array SKAhttpswwwskatelescopeorg

[20] Avinash A Deshpande and B MLewis ldquoIridium Satellite Signals ACase Study in InterferenceCharacterization and Mitigation forRadio Astronomy Observationsrdquo DOI101142S225117171940009arXiv190400502 [astro-phIM]

[21] Committee on Radio FrequenciesBoard on Physics and AstronomyCommission on Physical SciencesMathematics and Applications NationalResearch Council ldquoVIEWS OF THECOMMITTEE ON RADIO FREQUENCIESCONCERNING FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS FORTHE PASSIVE SERVICES AT THE 1992 WORLDADMINISTRATIVE RADIO CONFERENCE ldquo

[22] Atacama Large Millimeter ArrayALMA httpswwwesoorg

[23] SKA statements on satellitescontellationsska-statement-on-satellite-constellations

[24] PATRICIA COOPER ldquoSATELLITEGOVERNMENT AFFAIRS SPACE EXPLORATIONTECHNOLOGIES CORP (SPACEX)rdquohttpswwwcommercesenategov

[25] APPEAL BY ASTRONOMERShttpsastronomersappealwordpresscom[26] Starlink testing encrypted internetform military US Air Force purposeshttpswwwreuterscomarticle[27] Starlink APPLICATION FOR AP-PROVAL FOR ORBITAL DEPLOYMENTAND OPERATING AUTHORITY FOR THESPACEX NGSO SATELLITE SYSTEMLegal-Narrativepdf[28] Starlink simulations from deepskywatchhttpwwwdeepskywatchcom[29] Volvach et al 2019 ldquoAn Unusually Power-ful Water-Maser Flare in the Galactic SourceW49Nrdquo doi 2019ARep63652Vdoi101134

[30] Donald J Kessler Burton G Cour-Palais ldquoCollision frequency of artificial satel-lites The creation of a debris beltrdquo doihttpsdoiorg101029JA083iA06p02637[31] Ramon J Ryan Note The Fault InOur Stars Challenging the FCCrsquos Treatmentof Commercial Satellites as Categorically Ex-cluded From Review Under the National En-vironmental Policy Act 22 VAND J ENT ampTECH L (forthcoming May 2020)[32] David Dubois NASA ldquoOpen Letterto FCC US Senate and Commissions andSpeceXldquo OpenLEtterforFCCandNASA

16