Space Leaders Worldwide May Fight SpaceX Lofting 1 Million Satellites

BusinessAerospace & DefenseSpace Leaders Worldwide May Fight SpaceX Lofting 1 Million SatellitesByKevin Holden Platt,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Kevin Holden Platt writes on space defense, SpaceX, ISS, Space War I Follow AuthorMay 14, 2026, 01:39pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.SpaceX, after launching 10,000 satellites into orbit, aims to loft one million more in a plan that space powers around the world will likely oppose. Shown here is a simulated image released by the European Space Agency of 12,000 space objects now circling the globe. (Photo by ESA/AFP via Getty Images)ESA/AFP via Getty ImagesWhile Elon Musk stunned the world with plans to launch a million satellites into orbit, the heads of space agencies and spacecraft operators across the planet are certain to oppose this SpaceX scheme, says a pre-eminent space scholar.If the American Federal Aviation Administration even hinted it might approve the lift-off of a million-strong SpaceX mega-constellation, “I would expect immediate and very strong objections from satellite operators, astronomers, insurers, national space agencies, defense organizations, and foreign governments,” says Brian Hurley, a world-leading expert who chronicles the rapid-fire expansion of the modern space sector, and its rippling effects across the spheres of national security and international affairs.“The objections would not only come from China and Russia,” says Hurley, founder of the influential think tank New Space Economy, which also publishes a digital magazine. “They would likely come from U.S. and European operators too, because the risk is not contained inside the company proposing the system.” “Putting one million satellites into orbit would sharply increase the potential for inter-satellite collisions,” Hurley told me in an interview. SpaceX has already created the greatest con...