This time on Tomorrow, Today, we are talking about satellites, mad scientists, and the future of the internet.

Elon Musk: everyone knows him; he’s the real life Tony Stark. A billionaire inventor who has made everything from PayPal to flamethrowers, now he’s taking a swing at internet service providing. According to NASA and the Starlink website, Musk is sending thousands of small satellites into low earth orbit to create a system or “constellation” of satellites that can provide the internet anywhere in the world.

Currently there are over 1,000 satellites in orbit with plans to have 12,000 by the end of 2021. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has only approved Starlink up to 12,000 satellites but Musk hopes to have 42,000 in total to finish the “constellation.”

Now to how it all actually works, Starlink requires the Starlink Ground Kit to function. The kit includes a small dish, a wi-fi router, power supply, and mounting tripod. It needs to be installed in an area with a clear line of sight to the sky, and after that, boom, you have internet access wherever you are. 

Starlink received a $856 million grant from the FCC to help the company provide internet to rural areas across 35 states. Along with this, the company already has 10,000 customers signed up for the pre-order, which is gathering investors attention. 

This concept might sound awesome, and personally I think it’s pretty cool, but some people aren’t as thrilled. Astronomers across the northern hemispheres have been spotting the satellites in their routine observations and noticed that they put off a lot of light. This light emission is due to the satellites being in such low orbit, and with plans to put tens of thousands more in orbit, astronomers are seriously concerned about light pollution issues that might hinder their efforts.

Only time will tell how this technology will affect us in the near future, but as the great Christian Lous Lange once said “Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.”