A coalition of environmental and scientific groups has urged the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to halt the “reckless” rush toward authorising data centres in space.
The coalition, represented by nonprofit environmental law organisation Earthjustice, has submitted a 28-page petition to the FCC calling for a comprehensive environmental review of satellite-based data centre proposals before any licences are issued.
It wants to see licenses paused until a thorough assessment has been made into their risks, alternatives, needs, impacts and costs to “ensure they are not causing irreparable environmental harm to our planet.”
To date, the FCC has authorised satellites without an environmental review. The petition challenges this approach, arguing that it fails to consider the cumulative impacts of these projects.
According to the petition, the FCC has received multiple proposals that collectively seek to place well over a million data centre satellites into orbit, “increasing the existing...