Scientists want astronomy-linked conditions on Starlink's SA licence deal
Astronomers working with South Africa's Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope are pushing authorities to ensure that any licensing agreement with Elon Musk's Starlink will protect their groundbreaking observations, a senior scientist says.
Discussions to bring Musk's internet service Starlink into South Africa have already been contentious, with parent company SpaceX criticising local shareholding laws while backing equity equivalent programmes.
Attaching astronomy-linked licensing conditions may further complicate attempts to introduce Starlink to the country of Musk's birth, where he has already said he is deterred by the government's black empowerment policies.
South Africa said it will review its information and communication technology sector rules but will not back down on government policies to transform the economy three decades after white-minority rule ended.
Scientists fear South Africa's SKA-Mid, the world's most powerful radio telescope together with another array co-hosted in Australia, will have their sensitive space observations distorted by Starlink's low-orbiting satellites.
'It will be like shining a spotlight into someone's eyes, blinding us to the faint radio signals from celestial bodies,' Federico di Vruno, co-chair of International Astronomical Union Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
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