Re:Image of Our Satellite-Choked Night Skies
by wolvoleo on Thursday November 05, 2026 @12:28PM
(#50381820)
The air traffic is a lot more guided. Airplanes don't go anywhere unless approved. Satellites are just circling in different directions and constantly crossing paths.
Luckily most sats in LEO do have maneuvering thrusters. But the fuel is very limited and the more of them are up there the more often they have to do corrections. Eventually something will have to give.
Re:Image of Our Satellite-Choked Night Skies
by phyzix5761 on Thursday November 05, 2026 @01:34PM
(#50382669)
All satellite orbits must be pre approved before a spacecraft can ever leave the ground. They're more heavily regulated than aircraft.
Re:Image of Our Satellite-Choked Night Skies
by wat10000 on Thursday November 05, 2026 @01:46PM
(#50382802)
Every satellite is tracked. Potential collisions are monitored and avoidance maneuvers performed. A significant amount of air traffic is completely uncontrolled and relies on looking out the window to avoid collisions. Satellite paths are a lot more predictable, and there's also way more volume to work with.
Of all the things to be outraged over... satellites provide extremely valuable services and are pretty near harmless. There's the pollution from the launches, some uncertain concern over putting materials into the upper atmosphere when they reenter, and that's about it. The thing people complain about most is that they get in the way of photographs of the starts. Which is annoying, but also seems to be easily worked around, and is pretty small potatoes compared to planet-wide communications. Your neighbor operating a leaf blower with a dirty two-stroke engine is harming you more than these satellites are.