The CNRS is defending the future of astronomy to the European Union

The European Commission will be presenting new legislation on space in March 2024. This gives the CNRS the opportunity to defend the importance of preserving space research at a time when new threats are arising because of the multiplication of orbital objects.

It has been customary since ancient times to call groups of stars visible to the naked eye from Earth ’constellations’, using names evoking animals or mythological figures. Will the meaning of this word change now that other sorts of ’constellations’ are multiplying? These are made up of thousands of commercial satellites that continue to proliferate in the Earth’s orbit to the extent that they could hinder the work of astronomists.

This extraterrestrial environment is increasingly being taken over by what is known as the New Space. This involves the arrival of newer and notably private sector stakeholders including the SpaceX company owned by the American billionaire Elon Musk, and its constellation of Starlink satellites. The increased risks to the cyber security of European satellites in orbit are also of concern. Partly for these reasons, Europe wishes to equip itself with a protective legal tool to regulate the new environment. The CNRS has taken advantage of this regulatory initiative to defend the interests of research affected by this congestion in space. Last November the organisation published its position on this issue, calling for " strong support for research and development activities, particularly through developing data production and control capacities [...], and for basic research as vectors for strong European leadership on the international stage ".

Preserving research activities in space

The forthcoming law and the CNRS positioning document come at a crucial time. The number of satellites in orbit has grown considerably since 2021. In 2023, there were close to 2900 satellites in orbit above us which is a 17% increase on 2022’s figure with these representing a total mass of over 1,500 tonnes. SpaceX is literally major player in this field with a virtual monopoly. With its constellation of 2500 Starlink satellites providing Internet access, SpaceX accounts for over 85% of the total mass of satellites in orbit worldwide and 88% of the total number of satellites put into orbit. This mass is likely to grow considerably in the next few years because SpaceX aims to send up to 42,000 Starlink satellites into orbit while other companies are also planning to launch their own ’constellations’. For example, in October the e-commerce giant Amazon sent two prototypes of its Kuiper satellites into orbit. Nicolas Arnaud, the director CNRS Earth & Space, considers the situation to be rather like " a jungle in which anything goes ". Alain Mermet, director of the CNRS European and International Affairs Department and former director of its Brussels office, explains that the European Union’s (EU) aim is to position itself as a regulatory power in this new market. It would like to be the guardian of a " green and resilient space " and to do so wishes to provide a specific legislative framework on space for all 27 EU member states. She goes on to describe the outlines of this future law: " Currently the EU is studying several more or less restrictive European-level scenarios aimed at defining what operators will or will not be allowed to do if they want access to the European market ".

Astronomy is one of the areas the law would aim to protect along with research more generally. The position expressed by the CNRS stresses the importance of the law for Europe’s sustainability and resilience in the field of space. However the organisation’s published document also identifies a number of threats to the quality and viability of astronomical data caused by the proliferation of satellites, particularly of the commercial variety. The visible light trails of satellites, the way they reflect sunlight and directly or indirectly cause interference with radio astronomical waves are all risk factors that are already having a negative effect on scientific observation. Clearly such issues will only continue and increase as satellite constellations grow even more and the whole situation leads Nicolas Arnaud to draw a bleak conclusion. "The proliferation of things that fly around us, that can or will fly, or actually have flown, and also things that are less visible, the invasion of near-Earth space by emissions in all directions - all’of this will one day make it impossible for us to do radio astronomy research. That’s why the CNRS stresses the importance of regulation in our response to the EU Space Law, so that a space can be maintained in which we can continue - notably - to practice science".

As well as science, the CNRS is also campaigning for the preservation of a dark and silent sky. This applies equally to human activities and to other inhabitants of the blue planet. The organisation’s campaign makes it clear that the overall increase in the sky’s brightness can impact biology and living species, particularly many species’ migratory patterns. The CNRS is coordinating the ’dark ecological’ network t’o strive to conserve this biodiversity. Finally, the exponential growth in the number of satellite constellations increases the risk of direct collisions and therefore raises fears about the destruction of scientific instruments that monitor climate indicators and carry out weather modelling. These are of course invaluable from both a scientific and a societal standpoint.

Research - a key stakeholder in the sustainable space of tomorrow

The brusque arrival on the scene of these new players makes it vital for research to reiterate through this European law that, as Nicolas Arnaud says, it is " a player in the sustainable space of tomorrow " and vital for the competitiveness of the European space sector. To achieve this, extraterrestrial activities need to be protected and the long-term viability of basic research needs to be ensured while reinforcing the budget in this area. Alain Mermet argues that " if the EU wants to be a real stakeholder in space and consider itself as such, it must be capable of providing funding across the whole spectrum of space research ". According to the director of the CNRS European and International Affairs Department, the aim of the CNRS’s stated position on this subject and, more generally, the influence exerted by the Brussels representatives of European research organisations is to " make the voice of research heard on this important piece of legislation ". This is particularly important given that the work of organisations like the CNRS involves far more than basic research alone. The former director of the Brussels office views the CNRS as " a real player in New Space " thanks to the fifteen or so start-ups in this field that have emerged from its laboratories. One example is ThrustMe , which designs rocket engines very small satellites.

The CNRS’s positioning document on the Space Law argues in favour of the enhanced integration of research organisations in European space policy to play two roles. Firstly, they could act as guarantors of the quality of space-derived data, ensuring their traceability and processing at a time when " the proliferation of operators is certainly increasing the potential sources of Earth observation data, but not in a way that is supervised by scientists ", as Alain Mermet explains, Secondly with the increasing possibility of Man returning to the Moon or even taking the first steps on Mars and the massive development of in-orbit services looming on the horizon, research organisations could take on an advisory role which will require the development of specific interdisciplinary expertise.

This positioning would reinforce Europe’s uniqueness in the international space landscape while in no way undermining the competitiveness of European industry. As Nicolas Arnaud observes, "the space data issue permeates the whole economy because the aim is to make data more affordable, better distributed, more available and more adapted to stakeholder requirements". Ultimately, science does not focus on space because it has its head in the stars but because what happens in space necessarily impacts on our lives down here on Earth .