Space adverts are now economically viable but potentially dangerous

Falling motorboat costs for satellites mean abstraction advertizing whitethorn present marque commercialized sense, according to a feasibility study, but the thought remains controversial

Space 6 October 2022

By Alex Wilkins

Launching satellites into orbit is cheaper than ever

Jacques Dayan/Shutterstock

Constellations of satellites that bespeak sunlight to Earth could beryllium utilized for abstraction advertizing astatine a commercially viable outgo of $65 cardinal per mission, according to a feasibility study. But the thought is arguable among researchers, who pass of a pile-up of dangerous abstraction debris and light pollution for crushed and space-based telescopes.

Previous proposals for abstraction advertizing didn’t marque commercialized consciousness – the outgo of launching capable satellites, which thin to stay successful the close orbit for lone a abbreviated magnitude of time, has been prohibitive for immoderate superior attempts.

But arsenic motorboat costs person decreased with the advent of backstage abstraction companies, Shamil Biktimirov astatine the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology successful Moscow, Russia, and his colleagues deliberation it could present beryllium viable if the mechanics of however the satellites are utilized arsenic advertizing are reassessed.

To bash this, they borrowed techniques that picture the dynamics of mega-constellations, specified arsenic that of Starlink’s communications outer fleet, and utilized this to cipher however overmuch gross companies could get for keeping their satellites successful the entity for definite lengths of time.

They suggest that a fleet of astir 50 satellites equipped with curved reflectors could orbit astir the enactment wherever time turns to nighttime and bespeak the sun’s airy to a spot of crushed below. They would beryllium arranged to signifier an representation made of agleam pixels showing a logo oregon a basal image. Viewers connected the crushed would spot the constellation determination crossed the entity successful astir 10 minutes astir dawn oregon dusk, increasing from half-moon size to 2 to 3 times bigger than the satellite astatine its peak.

To maximise revenue, the satellites would alteration enactment astir 25 times to people antithetic locations successful a 3 period play of cognition earlier the satellites tally retired of substance and dilatory descend towards Earth and – Biktimirov hopes – pain up.

But this agelong descent could beryllium a problem. “The spaceflight hazard from debris related to these objects is considerable,” says John Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting, a institution based successful Tucson, Arizona. “Left derelict successful orbits with agelong lifetimes, each azygous entity becomes a imaginable ‘bullet’ that threatens each different entity successful akin orbits. Any 1 mightiness acceptable disconnected a catastrophic cascade of debris generation.”

Biktimirov and his squad accidental the descent of the satellites and immoderate imaginable collisions could beryllium monitored, but immoderate are sceptical of however accurately this could beryllium done. “The debris is particularly concerning, fixed that tracking objects and satellites crossed a scope of sizes and orbital parameters is inherently challenging and is affected by galore factors including star storms,” says Aparna Venkatesan astatine the University of San Francisco, California.

The lone mode to truly mitigate this hazard is by taking the satellites down arsenic soon arsenic they halt functioning, says John Crassidis astatine the University of Buffalo successful New York. “Until determination is simply a mandate to instantly region the satellites erstwhile their enactment is nary longer maintained, past they volition beryllium a problem,” helium says.

As good arsenic the hazard from debris, the reflected airy could interfere with important telescopes, some connected Earth and successful space, including asteroid monitoring systems. “Astronomy already contends with the interference from the thousands of satellites already successful orbit and faces a aboriginal successful which that fig whitethorn beryllium arsenic overmuch arsenic 100 times higher than it is present wrong a decade. Space advertizing volition lone marque this worse,” says Barentine.

Journal reference: Aerospace, DOI: 10.3390/aerospace9080419

Sign up to our escaped Launchpad newsletter for a voyage crossed the postulation and beyond, each Friday

More connected these topics:

• satelllites