Starlink is the name of a satellite (opens in new tab) network developed by the private spaceflight company SpaceX (opens in new tab) to provide low-cost internet to remote locations. SpaceX eventually hopes to have as many as 42,000 satellites in this so-called megaconstellation.
The size and scale of the project flusters astronomers, who fear that the bright, orbiting objects will interfere with observations of the universe (opens in new tab), as well as spaceflight safety experts who now see Starlink as the number one source of collision hazard in Earth's orbit. In addition to that, some scientists worry that the amount of metal that will be burning up in Earth's atmosphere as old satellites are deorbited, could trigger unpredictable changes to the planet's climate.
