SpaceX Second-Gen Plans Need More Risk Assessment: Astronomer

The FCC should deny or indefinitely defer SpaceX's pending second-generation constellation application pending scientific studies and international discussions that would allow an assessment of the risks -- environmental and otherwise -- it poses, an astronomy professor wrote the International Bureau Sunday. SpaceX and similar proposals would undoubtedly hurt astronomy, public stargazing and indigenous access to the sky, and be a serious debris risk and raise commercial fairness issues that should be addressed, University of Edinburgh's Andy Lawrence said. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's ruling against environmental-based challenges to SpaceX's plans (see 2208260035) didn't show the agency was right to ignore ordering a National Environmental Policy Act review, but rather that the appellants didn't demonstrate actual injury, he said. Lawrence said the decision also didn't seem to rule out including the effect of harm from activities in orbital space as part of an environmental review. SpaceX didn't comment Monday.