Satellite Mega-Constellations
Between Technological Utopia and War
Keywords:
NewSpace, Starlink, Starshield, Álvaro Vieira Pinto, dual-use technologyAbstract
The ideal of technological progress and the project of bringing technological benefits to all humankind are instrumental in justifying the operations of satellite constellations. However, such discourses obscure the fact that space exploration is founded on corporate and military interests. Thus, this article analyzes the Starshield project, a mega-constellation developed by Elon Musk's company SpaceX for the exclusive use of the United States military. We will follow Álvaro Vieira Pinto's philosophy to expose the ways in which the expansion of connection capabilities for warfare contradicts the techno-utopia of the NewSpace era. Through bibliographic review and documentary research, we start from the hypothesis that such orbital infrastructures cannot be understood as neutral or essentially beneficial technologies, but as devices embedded in historical relations of power, domination, and militarization. Critically observing the discourse of dual technology, which distinguishes technologies based on their civil and military uses, we demonstrate how the activities of the NewSpace industry cannot be dissociated from the US military-industrial complex. We defend the need to carry out a critical analysis of satellite mega-constellations, denouncing hegemonic discourses on technological progress and space exploration.
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