CL Lecture: Jeffrey Hall – Satellites and Astronomy: A New Era in Earth Orbit will be at 7:30 pm in the Large Meeting Room. Dr. Hall’s talk will address the rapid transformation of low earth orbit by the deployment of so-called “megaconstellations” of satellites. Space has recently become accessible to the private sector, including companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and OneWeb, resulting in a sea change in how space hardware is deployed and used. Where there used to be a few thousand satellites, there is now the potential for 100,000 or more. Dr Hall will discuss how astronomers and satellite operators have worked collaboratively on this issue since the launch of the first Starlink satellites in May 2019, and he will review the impact, side effects, and possible mitigations of the rapid industrialization of space.
