I&T Hub
Industry and Technology Hub
Hub Leads: Chris Hofer (Amazon Kuiper) & Tim Stevenson (SKAO)
The double star Albireo in Cygnus imaged on 26 December 2019. Two out of ten 2.5-minute exposures recorded Starlink satellites moving across the field. Credit: Rafael Schmall
The Industry and Technology Hub aims to foster collaboration between the astronomy and satellite communities and deepen awareness on the pressing matter of the protection of the dark and quiet sky. The objectives of the hub include:
- Encourage implementation of best practices and mitigations by satellite constellation proponents to reduce their impact on astronomy.
- Develop tools that enable the satellite industry’s voluntary adoption of recommended mitigations.
- Promote ongoing innovation of solutions.
The work of the Industry and Technology Hub will initially be focused on the areas of Outreach and Education with the aim of becoming a trusted resource to expand and enhance the engagement of the satellite industry with the astronomical community and Advancing mitigations, looking to promote the adoption of mitigation practices and stimulate ongoing innovation.
- Create informational overview of optical and radio astronomy activities and the potential impact from satellites.
- Create informational materials on the satellite sector and constellation development to build understanding within the astronomy community.
- Consolidate a repository of current technical analysis, studies, best practices and mitigations to date for easy industry reference.
- Make astronomer advisors available as pathfinders.
- Encourage industry to share satellite location data and support ongoing creation of space data repositories for observatory scheduling purposes.
- Promote development of simulation software for early predictive analysis.
- Catalogue available test facilities for prototype ground testing.
- Leverage coordinated observation networks to measure brightness of satellites in orbit.
- Share mitigation techniques implemented and support ongoing R&D into new mitigation solutions
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