DarkSky International, Environment America, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility’s Petition to Initiate Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Orbital Data Center Applications

DarkSky International, Environment America, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility have petitioned the FCC to pause the licensing of orbital data center satellites pending a comprehensive programmatic environmental review. The petitioners argue that current proposals from companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Starcloud, and Cowboy Space—which collectively seek to deploy over a million satellites—would cause unprecedented light pollution, atmospheric degradation, and orbital debris. They contend that the FCC's current practice of categorical exclusion is outdated and fails to account for the synergistic impacts on human health, wildlife, astronomy, and indigenous cultural practices.

• Multiple companies have proposed mega-constellations of orbital data centers that would significantly increase the number of satellites in low-earth orbit, with SpaceX alone seeking to deploy "a million satellites that operate as orbital data centers".
• The proposed scale of orbital data centers would cause severe light pollution, potentially resulting in "tens of thousands of satellites being easily visible to the unaided eye globally" and creating a situation where there are "far more visible satellites than stars" for much of the night.
• Light pollution from these constellations is linked to human health risks, with "strong evidence" suggesting that "chronic exposure to light at night increases risk of cancer, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease".
• The launch and reentry of millions of satellites threaten the atmosphere by releasing alumina and black carbon, which could lead to "an uncontrolled experiment" in geo-engineering and the depletion of the ozone layer.
• Orbital data centers could permanently disable professional astronomy by increasing background sky brightness and creating interference across the electromagnetic spectrum, including waste heat from AI nodes that would raise the "infrared background of the sky".
• The massive increase in satellites raises the risk of the "Kessler Syndrome," a chain reaction of collisions that could "render space unusable for further satellites or crewed missions".
• Satellite reentry poses terrestrial risks, including a projected casualty risk from reentering U.S. satellite constellations that the FAA estimates "will be as high as 60 percent by 2035".
• The proliferation of satellites threatens indigenous cultural practices, specifically the "Star Compass" used by Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities for non-instrument navigation.
• Dark-sky tourism, particularly on the Colorado Plateau, is at risk; this sector is projected to generate "$5.8 billion in visitor spending and support over 10,000 jobs annually through the 2020s".
• The petitioners argue that the FCC's current NEPA regulations are "woefully out of date" and that the agency's tendency to categorically exclude satellite licensing is inappropriate for mega-constellations.

APA

Earthjustice (2026). DarkSky International, Environment America, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility’s Petition to Initiate Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Orbital Data Center Applications. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026.07.08-petition-for-programmatic-eis.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. DarkSky International, Environment America, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility’s Petition to Initiate Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Orbital Data Center Applications. 2026. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026.07.08-petition-for-programmatic-eis.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=DarkSky International, Environment America, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility’s Petition to Initiate Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Orbital Data Center Applications |date=8 July 2026 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026.07.08-petition-for-programmatic-eis.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2026darksky, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{DarkSky International, Environment America, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility’s Petition to Initiate Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Orbital Data Center Applications}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2026}, month = jul, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026.07.08-petition-for-programmatic-eis.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }