Mega Constellations Need More Scrutiny, NASA Tells FCC

Since the FCC authorized Amazon's Kuiper plans in 2020 (see 2007310057, NASA's experience with low earth orbit constellations has shown the need for more scrutiny before launch on areas that could affect NASA operations and the safety of its assets, the agency told the FCC International Bureau Thursday. Citing Kuiper's pending modification of that authorization, NASA recommended Kuiper mitigate collision risks by maintaining a conservative separation from human space flight vehicles such as the International Space Station during ascent and deorbit phases. It also recommended Kuiper do an analysis showing its full constellation won't be a significant source of light pollution affecting astronomical observations, and that the analysis be made publicly available. NASA said it doesn't anticipate any RF interference impacts to its operations resulting from Kuiper's plans. It said all large constellation operators should design and operate their satellites using the 2019 federal orbital debris mitigation standard practices. It said the growth of mega constellations is raising concerns about reduced availability of safe launch windows, especially for missions requiring instantaneous or short launch windows such as planetary missions. NASA said there should be planning for conjunction and interference mitigation at a national and international level. The National Science Foundation separately said it continues to discuss with satellite operators means of preventing their constellations from affecting ground-based astronomical observations. It said it's urging satellite designs that avoid main-beam illumination of radio astronomy sites, and that it's working with operators to develop recommendations for minimizing impacts to optical and infrared astronomy. NSF said options it's pushing include reducing optical brightness via darkening of satellites, deflecting light away from the ground and providing orbital information to astronomers for work on scheduling observations around satellite locations. It said Kuiper has taken a leadership role in those talks with astronomers.