The pandemic has driven home to us all the importance of digital inclusion. Most of us have depended on connectivity to keep in touch with loved ones, work, shop, and access utilities and vital public services, including healthcare and education. The consequences of the digital divide have been brought to the fore of our minds, and it is an increasingly essential feature on the agendas of governments worldwide.
Despite our advances, connectivity on a global scale varies hugely, with some of our most remote communities increasingly feeling the disconnect, contributing to a widening gap in terms of social and economic opportunities. An article published by the United Nations this year suggests that almost half of the world's population are offline. When, for the other half, so much of our daily lives are lived out online, with seemingly endless Zoom and Teams calls, tweets and news notifications, this huge divide is an easy reality to forget.
Satellite constellations are nothing new, but more recent mega constellations, such as SpaceX's Starlink, along with Kuiper, OneWeb and Hongyan, hold promise to ensure high-speed access across the world. By creating an array of tens of thousands of satellites in a lower-Earth orbit than the traditionally used geostationary orbit, companies like SpaceX are working to provide high-speed internet access almost anywhere on Earth. In terms of connectivity, it would be hard to overstate the benefits of this. Whilst there are clear commercial motivations at play, the potential to change lives is real. In many countries, online access can be a social-justice issue. For others, it can mean the difference between life-or-death access to health care or access to education and economic opportunities for some of our world's most vulnerable communities.
But it comes at a cost that not everyone is willing to pay. Whilst a trail of bright lights passing across our sky in quick succession is a sight to behold, it poses a real problem for ground-based astronomy, both amateur and professional. SpaceX has tried to respond to the issue with Darksat technology, but this doesn't go far enough to quell scientists' concerns. At a minimum, the night sky is an important philosophical and cultural anchor for humankind - a reminder of our place in the Universe. The starry constellations that underpin our cultural relationship with the sky aren't just the Greco-centric patterns supporting the classical folklore many of us know. Different cultural groups worldwide have their own constellations and stories that form a treasured part of their cultural heritage.
Furthermore, amateur astronomy is not "just a hobby." It remains one of the most affordable and accessible scientific practices available to the public, not necessarily relying on access to equipment (although that helps). It has inspired many to take up professional STEM careers, including those from some of our most marginalised and under-represented communities. The introduction of this technology to our night skies jeopardises this.
There are other profound implications. The need to advance our understanding of the cosmos aside, observation of the night sky is essential for monitoring Near-Earth Objects, with sufficient lead time to respond if necessary and achievable, is critical to our safety. If our view of the sky is occulted by numerous satellites, this becomes more challenging. The sheer volume of satellites and the associated space debris associated with these ventures could severely restrict safe access to space, not just for astronauts but also for crucial environmental monitoring missions as we tackle our biggest challenge yet - the ecological crisis.
Our Foundation Leading to Engineering and Computer Science students recently discussed this issue at Cardiff School of Technologies as a formative assessment project. It was interesting to see their views evolve and, by the end of it, there was a real sense amongst the cohort of there being no easy answers. For the students, it served as an interesting ethical case study. Points of discussion emerged:
Just because we can build something, does that always mean we should?
At what point does the human need for technological development outweigh the environmental impact, if at all?
What are our responsibilities as technologists regarding cultural, environmental and scientific preservation?
As computing and engineering professionals, sometimes there are no easy answers to the problems that we are presented with.
There aren't easy answers to this problem. The arguments from all sides have some merit, but there are understandable concerns about the environmental impact of these projects. On a grand, cosmic scale, this issue demonstrates that, in our technological advancement, we have a responsibility to find solutions sympathetic to the environment and our cultural heritage. Still, with so many people offline, we also face a significant social issue and a compulsion to close the gap that represents a global digital divide. As of yet, there appear to be few answers to astronomers' concerns but, in the meantime, satellite launches continue with little regulation.
References:
Bergland, K (2018) Multicultural Astronomy, Digitalis, (Online) Available at: https://www.digitaliseducation.com/blog-post-20180925 [Accessed 5 December 2021]
United Nations (2021) With Almost Half of World’s Population Still Offline, Digital Divide Risks Becoming ‘New Face of Inequality’, Deputy Secretary-General Warns General Assembly (Online) Available at: https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/dsgsm1579.doc.htm [Accessed 5 December 2021]
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