All Things Policy How Satellite Megaconstellations are Entrenching Space
Feb 2, 2026
Ashwin Prasad, policy researcher and author on space governance, explains how rapid satellite launches are reshaping low Earth orbit. He discusses Starlink’s scale, why 400–600 km is prized, collision and congestion risks, spectrum and ITU limits. Short-term fixes like SSA and debris removal and longer-term governance ideas such as orbital charging and cooperative clubs are also explored.
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LEO Crowding Creates De Facto Possession
- Mega constellations concentrate military and economic power by occupying narrow LEO bands around 400–550 km.
- This crowding effectively denies access to other states and changes the open nature of space.
Reusability Fueled The Mega Constellation Boom
- Reusable rockets drastically lowered launch costs and increased launch cadence, enabling huge satellite fleets.
- That economics turned launch from a bottleneck into an advantage for vertically integrated firms like SpaceX.
Design Choices Made Starlink Practical
- Starlink exploited launch advantage plus satellite design to offer low-latency, consumer-grade internet from LEO.
- They chose ~450–550 km as the sweet spot for latency, bandwidth and mesh networking.