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SUMMARY:Research presentation: ‘Holding up the skies: is Starlink occupy
 ing low Earth orbit?’
DTSTART:20260512T150000Z
DTEND:20260512T160000Z
DTSTAMP:20260430T114600Z
UID:indico-event-632@indico.bisa.ac.uk
DESCRIPTION:Starlink is occupying low Earth orbit (LEO) with thousands of 
 small satellites\, which provide global high-speed internet. We calculate 
 that the privately owned megaconstellation\, which we contend forms a plan
 etary infrastructure\, accounts for 52% of all mass in LEO and 75% of all 
 mass launched into this strategic orbit between 2019\, when Starlink’s o
 perations began\, and early 2023. With these statistics as the basis for a
  quantitative critical political geography\, we conceptualise orbital occu
 pation and differentiate it from terrestrial occupation. Orbital occupatio
 n is kinetic rather than fixed in place\, volumetric rather than superfici
 al\, exclusionary\, meaning first occupants accrue advantages at the expen
 se of latecomers\, and reliant on advanced engineering. Orbital space is a
 lso a finite resource increasingly occupied by commercial actors\, which p
 erceive opportunities for profit\, rather than by states alone. While Star
 link’s activities are authorised by the US government\, when combined wi
 th parent company SpaceX\, which launches the satellites into space\, the 
 two companies can access and occupy orbital space in a way that no state\,
  not even the US\, can match. Given the two companies’ combined might\, 
 which is amplified by Elon Musk’s political influence\, and weak nationa
 l and international regulation of LEO\, dislodging Starlink’s dominance 
 will prove difficult. Read the full paper.\nChair\nDr Bleddyn Bowen\nSpeak
 er\nDr Mia Bennett is an associate professor of geography at the Universit
 y of Washington in Seattle\, USA. Her research examines geopolitical compe
 tition in frontiers\, specifically the Arctic and orbital space\, and the 
 politics of satellites and remote sensing. She has run a blog on the Arcti
 c since 2009 called Cryopolitics and\, with Klaus Dodds\, recently authore
 d the book Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic\, which was 
 published by Yale University Press last autumn. Dr. Bennett has been a vis
 iting researcher at the University of Cambridge\, University College Londo
 n\, The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø\, and the University of Hei
 delberg\, and her work has been funded by international organizations incl
 uding the U.S. National Science Foundation\, Fulbright Association\, Briti
 sh Academy\, and Regional Studies Association.\nRegistration will close tw
 o hours before the event begins\n\nhttps://indico.bisa.ac.uk/event/632/
LOCATION:Zoom
URL:https://indico.bisa.ac.uk/event/632/
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