The world’s biggest tech companies are gearing up to set up data centres in space. However, scientists are warning that this move could result in millions of new satellites surrounding the Earth in the coming years — potentially turning our planet into a ringed world resembling Saturn. This, they caution, would brighten the night sky so much that stars would no longer be clearly visible. Canadian professor Samantha Lawler and her research team have laid out this unusual risk in a new study titled “Rings in the Sky.”
Lawler explained that if companies go ahead with their plans to launch nearly 10 lakh AI data centre satellites into orbit, the night sky would become a deeply unsettling sight. She said this outcome — turning Earth into a ringed planet — is essentially what these tech companies are aiming for. At present, only around 16,000 satellites orbit the Earth. But major players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are looking to send up as many as 12 lakh satellites — nearly 75 times the current number. This, experts warn, could dangerously overcrowd space, raising the risk of satellites colliding with one another, while also making it far harder for astronomers to observe the sky clearly.
SpaceX has argued that placing data centres in space would actually benefit the environment, reducing electricity consumption on Earth by allowing these computers to run on constant solar power available in orbit. To ensure continuous access to sunlight, these satellites would need to be positioned along a single orbital path that runs along the boundary between day and night. With thousands of satellites lined up along that same path, they would appear from Earth as a massive glowing ring encircling the planet. Since these data centres would be fitted with large solar panels, sunlight reflecting off them would make them shine brightly in the sky.
According to calculations by scientists, these satellite rings would appear particularly bright in the sky around 6 pm in the evening and again around 3 am at dawn. In certain regions, they could remain visible glowing throughout the night. This aggressive commercial exploitation of space has drawn sharp criticism from many. Space expert Professor Hugh Lewis said that this development threatens to permanently ruin the beautiful night sky that we see every day.