Elon Musk’s huge satellite plans could bring down planes, astronomers warn

EXPERTS have warned that Elon Musk's huge plan to send even more satellites into space could cause a devastating plane crash.

The world's richest man wants to blast more than 40,000 SpaceX internet beaming satellites into low Earth orbit.

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His Starlink service has permission to launch 12,000 but the firm submitted paperwork for a further 30,000 in 2019.

SpaceX has over 3,000 in the skies up and running already, which have been a crucial tool for Ukrainian forces battling Russia.

But astronomers fear low Earth orbit could be overrun with satellites by Musk, 51, and many others racing for a slice of space.

They say an overcrowded space increases the risk of collisions, which would send debris raining down on Earth.

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It should burn up as it passes through the atmosphere, but even the smallest chunk could bring a plane down, according to Andy Lawrence, Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh.

"It's going to happen some time," he told The Sun.

"There's so many pieces of junk, something's going to hit a plane and 300 people will be killed, unless we're really, really careful.

"They say that they have AI algorithms for avoiding collisions and they make sure old satellites burn up, so we've got to trust them that it always works, and it won't.

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"If you have something that doesn't burn up completely on the way down, then there is stuff raining through the atmosphere.

"Things are moving very fast in orbit, even small things are absolutely lethal.

"So something the size of a pebble, it hits a plane on the way down, that plane's gone."

Professor Lawrence - who published a book called Losing The Sky about the issue last year - said he and others aren't calling for satellite launches like Musk's to be stopped entirely.

"Mostly I'm saying, for God's sake, slow down, let's do some proper studies, let's figure out how to do this so we can all share the sky," he explained.

"The FCC - Federal Communications Commission - in the US, if they approve it, it's very hard to stop it any other way."

Astronomers have noticed a dramatic increase in their images being ruined by satellites.

Amateur group the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh recently shared photos with satellite streaks all across them.

Society president Mark Phillips told The Sun we could end up with a view of an "artificial sky" if things continue.

"Before the Starlinks went up you'd expect the occasional satellite going over, with the Starlinks up now that's got considerably worse," he said.

"Some of the projects we work on, the professionals rely on amateurs to provide the data because we can do it all the time."

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"Even with some of the mitigating factors they're trying to do, making the satellites darker and less reflective... our amateur telescopes are incredibly sensitive."

He pleaded with Musk to, "please hold back, wait until we've all done the studies and let's find the best way to do this together".

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