International Astronomical Union receives a grant of $750,000 for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (IAU CPS), which is co-hosted by NSF NOIRLab and the SKAO, has received a SWIFT-SAT grant [1] from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).
The funded project aims to develop a set of publicly accessible software tools and online services that for the first time would allow astronomers to precisely predict the positions, time of passage and brightness of satellites. One tool called SatChecker, an early version of which was developed by members of the CPS, will help ground-based observatories by providing accurate predictions of satellite positions and their optical brightness. This valuable information will aid astronomers in adapting observation schedules and mitigating some negative impacts on their observations.
“This NSF funding will improve observatories’ ability to reduce the frequency of satellite passes affecting observations, therefore improving science outcomes,” said Connie Walker, Co-Director of the IAU CPS and NOIRLab co-PI of the SWIFT-SAT proposal.
The past decade has seen a surge in commercial constellations, with thousands of satellites launched into low Earth orbit. In as little as five years, 7000 constellation satellites have been launched into orbit — almost as many as the number of individual satellites launched since the dawn of the Space Age. Their number, high brightness, and radio emissions pose a major challenge for ground-based telescopes as they fly over during astronomical observations.
The grant from NSF supports the work of the CPS SatHub, a 200-member-strong international effort that works on the collection and analysis of artificial satellite observations and aims to centralise the development of software tools for the community.
In addition to developing tools to more precisely forecast satellite passes, the funded work will mitigate impacts on two key science goals for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) – characterising transients and performing a Solar System census.
Meredith Rawls, CPS SatHub Co-Lead and Research Scientist at the University of Washington, who works for Rubin Observatory and will advise colleagues working on the funded project, said, “Rubin Observatory is about to begin a groundbreaking decade-long survey of the night sky, and it will see loads of streaks, glints, and flares from artificial satellites. This funding will enable us to better understand and mitigate the resulting science impacts in Rubin data products.”
The news from NSF follows a range of positive developments on the protection of dark and quiet sky from satellite constellation interference in the past few months.
In December a UN agency, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), agreed to look at the risks posed by satellite constellation interference on the protection of radio quiet zones and radio telescopes over the next three years, after intense discussions led to a resolution endorsed by its 193 member countries.
Similarly, the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the UN’s top body for space matters, approved in June the inclusion of an item on one of its subcommittee’s agenda for the next five years to address the emerging issues and challenges posed by large constellations. Several dozen nations have been supportive of efforts to address this topic within COPUOS, which has resulted in the establishment of a Group of Friends of the Dark and Quiet Sky within COPUOS to promote awareness of the issue.
With growing momentum in international bodies such as the ITU and COPUOS, the CPS, until now run in large part through volunteer effort, a small grant from the IAU, and in-kind support from its host institutions NOIRLab and SKAO, is looking to increase its ability to support the protection of the dark and quiet sky by securing additional funding to conduct research and analysis.
“There’s been significant progress in recent months in raising awareness of the issue,” said Richard Green, interim CPS Director. “We now need increased financial support and advocacy at national level to impress on policy makers the need for further action and for industry to work with the astronomy field on mitigating the impact of satellite constellations.”
Next week at the IAU General Assembly currently taking place in Cape Town, South Africa, the 12,000 members of the IAU will have a chance to vote on a resolution that proposes to add, for the first time, protection of the dark and quiet sky to the IAU’s mandate, and urges the IAU to encourage organisations in its almost 100 member countries to increase advocacy of efforts to protect the dark and quiet sky with their respective governments. Adoption of the resolution would strengthen the IAU’s and the CPS’s mandate to address the challenges presented by satellite constellations to astronomy, as well as increasing pressure on governments to strengthen legislation in order to protect large public investments in astronomy infrastructure.
