55: The Starlink Controversy

SpaceX are doing amazing work on the spaceflight and technology stuff, but they could use a bit of work on their consultation and collaboration skills. Starlink, their satellite constellation program designed to bring broadband to the globe via tens of thousands of tiny communications satellites, will increase the number of shiny objects orbiting the Earth by a factor of ten. That's a big issue for astronomers, and they're pretty upset about it. But it's bigger than that. This is about who owns the sky, whether our view of the universe deserves protecting, and gets to have a voice in decisions like this.