SpaceX's highly paid lawyers responded to the hundreds of comments and oppositions submitted to the FCC in one letter, that basically shows they didn't actually read our petitions to deny. And now we astronomers and dark sky advocates who are volunteering our time have to do a shitload more work to respond to their non-response. By Friday.
Fuck you, SpaceX.
I am feeling seriously depressed about this, and also Reflect Orbital's no doubt similarly infuriating response that's due in a couple of days. I'm not sure what I expected, I guess I'm just not cynical enough to deal with current reality yet. Kessler Syndrome, here we come!!
Yesterday I borrowed a book off @astrokiwi.bsky.social's bookshelf written by @annaleen. Feeling slightly homesick for Saskatchewan after a few weeks in New Zealand, I was DELIGHTED to find that the book begins with "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuGGNsE3_8Y and I'm totally going to channel that Saskatchewan pirate energy into the talks, writing, and meetings I have today fighting satellite pollution.
Aaaarrrr, Matey! Get it? Métis?
Grant me the (Saskatchewan pirate?) strength to not throw my laptop out the fucking window as I try to write parts of the text for the American Astronomical Society's response to SpaceX's infuriating, arrogant, ignorant, irresponsible non-response.
HOLY FUCK THIS IS SO HARD IN ONE PARAGRAPH THE SHITBALLS SAY THEY'LL COORDINATE WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES TO STUDY ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS OF REENTRIES AND IN THE NEXT THE FUCKWEASELS VEHEMENTLY DENY THAT ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS APPLY TO THEM AT ALL AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
THEY SAY THEY'LL MEET MAG 7 RECOMMENDATIONS WHEN THEY HAVEN'T EVEN REACHED THIS WITH STARLINK AND THAT WOULD BE PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE WITH ISS-SIZED SOLAR PANELS AND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MAG 7 SATELLITES WOULD ACTUALLY COMPLETELY FUCKING DESTROY ASTRONOMY ANYWAY THESE FUCKING AWFUL FUCKWEASEL LIARS AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH
Wow New Zealand takes fire drill very seriously (which is good). Back to ranting....
INFRARED!! Literally their whole response to infrared is "we'll work with NSF" and "we'll follow the highly successful VM7 framework" which is... I think the visual mag 7 recommendation. WHICH THEY HAVEN'T EVEN FUCKING MET WITH STARLINK SATELLITES THAT ARE WAY SMALLER THAN THESE FUCKING DATA CENTERS
DO I REALLY HAVE TO READ THE ORBITAL SAFETY SECTION? I'm not sure if it's going to make me want to throw up or chuck my computer out the window.
WOW SOME SHADE THROWN AT COMPETITORS "In stark contrast to NASA’s productive suggestions, would-be SpaceX competitors like Viasat and Amazon recycle the same tired arguments..."
ALSO YOU FUCKING IGNORE EVERY SUGGESTION FROM ASTRONOMERS AND WE DON'T REPRESENT NASA YOU STUPID FUCKS
OH IT GETS BETTER "Some petitioners—primarily would-be competitors such as Amazon/Blue Origin and Viasat—advance
their standard anticompetitive tropes trying to fearmonger about orbital congestion, operational preclusion, and potential collision risk in opposing SpaceX’s application"
This would be hilarious if I wasn't also COMPLETELY TERRIFIED about orbital congestion and collision risks...
"If Amazon had employed even basic math, it would realize that SpaceX’s proposed system would inhabit only 0.005% of the 1.1 trillion cubic kilometers of space across the 500–2,000 km orbits"
YES BUT IT'S TRAVELLING THROUGH THAT SPACE AT 7KM PER SECOND AND YOU DON'T FUCKING KNOW HOW ORBITS WORK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Ok I need to take a break from reading this or I'm actually going to break something.
@sundogplanets use Grok
@sundogplanets @annaleen I know nothing about Saskatchewan, so in my head canon they have pirates on the rivers stealing fertilizer. 😁
I'd love to visit someday.
@Jirikiha @sundogplanets @annaleen likewise. I have known that song for some years. And I know that Saskatchewan is in Canada. And that's all. But I tend to think my partial knowledge could have been worse.
@sundogplanets @UkeleleEric @Jirikiha @annaleen Been there once, the land is so flat it’s the birthplace of flat-earthers! Also pirates are landlocked! :blobcatgiggle2:
@sundogplanets Autonomous is a good book.
@sundogplanets @astrokiwi.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy @annaleen
💕😸😸💕💕
@sundogplanets @astrokiwi.bsky.social @annaleen about the only thing I know about Saskatchewan is this song. It's speaking of real life events is it not? 😉
@sundogplanets @astrokiwi.bsky.social @annaleen I'll give you that one, since you're a long way from home.
@sundogplanets Entirely predictable though, given how Musk runs Tesla and long ago eliminated their PR department. This aligns with his preference not to discuss or even acknowledge anything he doesn't care to talk about, and to try to control the narrative.
I hope you can eloquently point out all of their flaws so that they have to face up to uncomfortable truths, instead of brushing them aside and getting away with it.
I'm rooting for you!
@sundogplanets @croyle Me too! You've got this! 💪🏽
You are doing a very important task which the rest of us are not really able to fully understand.
Please keep on doing it.
Thanks from the current and future generations.
Mar 18, 2026, 9:18 PMas a software developer since the 70s I have been tempted many times, but then admit it isn't the device I want tossed on a highway, the device is quite a wonder of human collaboration!
It usually resolves to some PARTICULAR humans I'd like to toss out there, requiring much more restraint 🤣
Dartboards can be quite cathartic! Or little effigies and a box of pins …
I'm very grateful to you for fighting this fight for all of us.
@sundogplanets Because of course laws don't apply. 🤬
Mar 19, 2026, 1:04 AM@StaceyCornelius @sundogplanets No laws apply: national, international or physics
@sundogplanets
We know they lie.
You need to be hugged by a goat.
I hope you get a safe trip home eventually.
... ...
That is not how any of this works.
But once they start running the scam, they really do have incentives to keep it going regardless of the absurdities, don't they?
@sundogplanets Some men just want to watch the world burn ... 🖖
@sundogplanets no, encourage them to park their satellites close together to save space! One metre sounds like a nice round number, put them that far apart.
Kessler? Wasn't he in some cooking show?
@sundogplanets You may know all about this, but read this post:
@sundogplanets may I suggest breaking SpaceX?
@sundogplanets I want to apply that logic to other domains. For example cars ! "Cars only use a very small fraction of the troposphere volume, therefore congestion can't be real."
Mar 19, 2026, 3:32 PM@TofuTheSquirrel @sundogplanets If they weren't shouting with their fingers in their ears that would be a good analogy. Bullets are also good.
But they think they are in fifth grade debate and they just have to "have an argument that supports your statement," whether or not itholds up.
@sundogplanets
This is terrifying. Not only for the orbits, the upper atmosphere and astronomy, but in general. Because one can be certain that these people use the same tactics in many different topics. We just never hear about this, because nobody is yelling about it on Mastodon.
Mar 19, 2026, 7:59 AM@sundogplanets in a few month the sky is so full with satellites, that sunrays did not reach earth because the metal of the satellites block them. Seems to be a good Plan to stop Climate change..😂
@sundogplanets Given that planes only occupy a tiny tiny proportion of the atmosphere, we do not need to monitor them, right?
Elon Musk, while firing an AK47 into a crowded shopping mall, insisted "It's fine. If you'd done basic math you'd realise the bullets only take up 0.005% of the available space in there."
@sundogplanets I love a good spray. You are wonderful. Keep going. Thank you.
Mar 18, 2026, 10:55 PM@sundogplanets Thank you for doing this work!! It's so hard to create articulate, logical responses to infuriating nonsense. I really appreciate you powering through! Keep the rants coming if they help you! There are supportive strangers on the internet cheering you on 🥳 😡
@sundogplanets you fear monger! wait, fish monger!
@sundogplanets
I am so grateful for your work on this! Thank you!
I just hope it's possible to stop this madness
Mar 18, 2026, 10:44 PM@sundogplanets the worst part is it's all completely implausible and will never happen, and yet demands all this effort to stop it regardless because it exists to set a precedent that regulation is immaterial and any nonsense is already approved.
Thankyou for your dedication in spite of all this.
@sundogplanets the first "fire drill" in the usa blew me away because they told us it was happening a month ahead of time - not admin / grounds staff, everyone. so people just didn't come in that day.
@sundogplanets pretty standard lawyering. Lots of parallel arguments
Mar 18, 2026, 9:39 PMDeep breaths. Deep breaths. There's always a chance no one will have the fuel to sell them or the first launch triggers a Kessler …
@sundogplanets all of the federal agencies that the current administration has destroyed so there’s very little, if any, capability to address these issues? I think it’s part of the plan to allow anything goes as long as the desired outcome is more money 💰 for the select few.
@sundogplanets We updated our story to note your comments about the light pollution and environmental concerns https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-to-start-small-with-1-million-satellite-plan-pushes-back-on-critics
@PCMag HAHAHA oh wow you linked to my very very angry posts. Well, I hope someone important reads it! (The version I am submitting to the FCC has zero swear words, and in order to do that, I have to put a bunch of swear words up here on social media)
Please reach out if you'd like to do a more formal interview, and thank you for writing about these huge issues!
@sundogplanets
Every right to be angry. This juvenile "pwn the libs" attitude that these businesses have taken is appalling
@sundogplanets I appreciate you for this! All I can say to help is after writing it, reword it geared toward the intelligence of about 3-5 levels below what the actual audience is at (maybe you are probaly around junior high level?). Hard to get them to read it if its not in the form of a meme or an animated story board. If all else fails, tell them the data shows it will cost them more $ than they could ever make back in 2 lifetimes
@sundogplanets Just wanted to say thank you for doing the work to fight back against this nightmare.
It shouldn't fall on a small number of good people to try and protect us from this crap and these companies, but it seems like it has, so thank you for fighting.
Mar 18, 2026, 9:50 PM@sundogplanets When you see the Jolly Roger on Regina's mighty shores (For the non-plains-peoples)
Piracy seems the only solution at this point.
Mar 18, 2026, 11:48 PM@sundogplanets Even the strongest pirate probably wouldn't be able to launch the laptop into orbit, so if you feel the need, go for it. (Although if it did make it, maybe it would reenter over southern Texas....)
Mar 18, 2026, 9:56 PM@sundogplanets Wait, isn't @annaleen American?! How do they even KNOW about "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate"?!?! I thought it was a closely kept national secret!!
@nev I am also from the States and learned of the Worms from a Canadian friend in high school...;) Also saw them in concert at a folk festival in PA in the late aughts...have a photo with them somewhere.
@Starry1086 @nev I have a lot of family in Sask!
Mar 17, 2026, 7:32 PM@sundogplanets And once the Kessler Syndrome starts, then they'll say that there was no way anyone could have predicted it, and file for a government bail-out. 🤦🏻