The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), is a beautifully imagined group within the United Nations that aims to make sure space doesn’t get misused as the costs for launching satellites continues to go down and the industry continues to privatize. Investor plans show there are several companies aiming to put hundreds of laser-fitted small satellites into orbit roughly 370 miles above Earth’s surface by 2030. Altogether, this many satellites could work together like a space billboard.
According to the astronauts (and many others), there are some real scientific drawbacks to allowing this sort of “entertainment” to happen from the skies such as the disruption of ongoing astronomy efforts. Not to mention hampering our ability to detect dangerous meteors. The most dystopian problem, though, is clearly the fact that this sort of billboard would be impossible for anyone to avoid. Being able to use the skies as a canvas is a bad idea solely for the fact that if it were possible, the exact wrong people would have the money and motivation to use it. For example, one of those company’s founders has already said that he wants “to prove that space is not just for scientists, not just for the military—it is entertainment, too. And people like entertainment.” Well, people like good entertainment. And it’s pretty obvious that isn’t what we would get.
