The Northumbria University Law School is home to an expert Space Law Team researching on current legal issues and challenges in Earth’s orbits, on celestial bodies, and across tech such as governance challenges regarding cybersecurity or the use of AI with satellite systems. The Law School also hosts various space law and regulating tech modules at the undergraduate and master’s levels. The Law School includes two Space Law LLM Programmes: Space Law LLM (full-time) and Space Law LLM (part-time, distance learning). To learn more about space law at the Northumbria University Law School please visit: https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/
A Not-So Starry Night: The Socio-Legal Importance of a Dark Night Sky
Ciara Guy, Space Law LLM Student, Northumbria University
Despite the cultural and scientific importance of Dark Night Skies, astronomical activities continue to be threatened by the growing presence of ground-based light pollution, an evident and widely acknowledged problem within the astronomy community that continues to evade address, let alone regulation. In addition, perhaps creating a sense of foreboding, astronomers are beginning to recognise a similar, relatively new threat posed by the exponentially increasing number of satellites and mega-constellations bringing about space-based light pollution.
This post will seek to explore the causes and impacts of both forms of light pollution to highlight the importance of affording dark skies and ground-based astronomical activities protection through the adoption of soft-law guidelines and as a matter of human rights.
Light Pollution
In 1889, Vincent Van Gogh sat by his asylum room window looking out over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Inspired by a sky brimming with stars, he produced one the most globally revered pieces of artwork, A Starry Night. Today, no such view exists there. The Bortle Scale, a nine-level numeric scale that measures the quality, or brightness, of the night sky based on how light pollution affects one’s view of the stars, allows us to put this into context. In the absence of prolific artificial light, as was the case pre-twentieth century, humankind would have an unobstructed view of the Milky Way, with the ability to see distant stars, galaxies, clusters and nebulae with the naked eye; a Bortle Class ‘1’ view. Today, the skies above Saint-Rémy-de-Provence would sit somewhere between Bortle Class 5 and 6, a suburban sky in which the Milky Way is invisible, and only the brightest planets and stars can be seen. Would Van Gogh still be inspired to paint A Starry Night? Would we be able to enjoy Emily Dickinson’s Ah, Moon – and Star!, or Fréderic Chopin’s Nocturne had it not been for the historical, unpolluted Night Skies? Not only have Dark Skies inspired art, literature and even religion, but for Millenia ground-based astronomy has formed the foundation of complex knowledge systems. While our more-distant ancestors depended on the stars for integral activities such as global navigation and farming, the stars have also guided more-recent scientific discoveries, Lemaître’s Big Bang Theory for instance.
If you were to ask an astronomer ‘What is light pollution?’, certainly the majority would begin to tell you about artificial light at night, known colloquially as ‘ALAN’, which refers to ‘the human-made alteration of outdoor light levels from those occurring naturally’. In the context of ground-based light pollution this would include outdoor electrical lighting, that is unshielded and improperly coloured, allowing light to spill upwards into the Night Sky, causing the ‘sky glow’ that can be seen to wash out the stars on the higher end of the Bortle Scale. From streetlights and electronic billboards to the security lighting on your own house, over-illumination has led to a world where over 80% of the world’s population live under sky glow. Unsurprisingly, it is not solely the human population that suffers from sky glow; Whilst light pollution severely impacts nocturnal species, thousands of sea turtles and migratory birds that travel by moonlight, for example, die every year after losing their way, confused by light pollution. Even marine ecosystems are altered by the underwater artificial lighting from oil rigs or passing ships. Despite all the above, global sky brightness continues to increase by an estimated 9.6% per year.
In recent years, however, concerns have mounted over a new type of space-based light pollution, caused by the brightness and frequency of satellites and mega-constellations. A mega-constellation, such as Starlink, is a network comprised of thousands of satellites operating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), working together as one system to provide global telecommunication services. Estimates indicate that by the end of 2030, there will be at least 50,000 satellites operating in LEO, a 2400% increase in a single decade. Such proliferation has the potential to increase the night sky’s brightness by 250% which would, in turn, erase 50% of all stars from view, meaning approximately one out of every 15 objects observable by the naked eye would be a satellite. Such a major alteration would devastate the night sky as we know it and have known it for many thousands of years. Besides the undeniable impact this would have on astronomers, the traditions and knowledge systems of many Indigenous Nations are based on mankind’s ability to interpret the stars. For example, the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi peoples, an aboriginal grouping located in New South Wales, Australia, utilise the Milky Way, or the Warambul, and the Emu constellation to preserve and inform knowledge systems relating to resource management and ceremony. Moreover, in a similar fashion to those relying on moonlight, mammals and birds such as songbirds and harbor seals depend on natural stellar constellations to determine their migratory paths and feeding areas. There is a demonstratable need for regulation that balances the benefits of mega-constellations with the wellbeing and interests of life on Earth.
Regulating Light Pollution
When it comes to regulating light pollution, we may seek to find the brightest, or in this case darkest, way forward by discussing the ways in which various institutions are attempting to address the situation. To give context to the recommendations that follow, it would be helpful to understand why these issues have evaded regulation previously, particularly regarding space-based light pollution; The Outer Space Treaty 1967 is considered the foundational instrument of space law. Written for the purposes of maintaining international peace and cooperation in outer space and unable to foresee the rapid technological advancements to come over the next 60 years, it has unsurprisingly struggled to address the problems associated with newer space-based technologies.
Consequently, permanent observers at the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) such as the International Astronomical Union and the International Institute of Space Law have been pushing for dark sky discussions at an international level. In February 2025, the issue was considered by the Science and Technical Subcommittee as an agenda item. To be considered as an agenda item alone indicates a growing recognition for the need to address the impacts of satellite megaconstellations on astronomical activities. However, by committing to this agenda item for the next four years, COPUOUS has acknowledged the need for a meaningful change to the ways in which such satellite-oriented space activities are undertaken to protect dark night skies.
In 2024, the International Institute on Space Law’s Working Group on Light Pollution of the Night Sky Report suggested the potential for new guidelines which reflect a ‘reasonable compromise between the satellite operators and the needs of astronomers’ that seek to ‘limit the optical impact of space objects’. These guidelines, if implemented into national licensing regimes, would require space actors to adhere to a set of best practices, aimed at reducing the amount of visual interference. These include designing satellites to be less reflective, modifying the orientation of satellites to minimise the amount of sunlight reflected, and providing positional data to astronomical facilities allowing them to plan their observations accordingly.
The Report also referred to other types of legal protection, focused primarily on Earth-based light pollution, that view astronomy and the right to a pristine sky as fundamental human rights and a world heritage under international law. For instance the Starlight Declaration, adopted in La Palma in 2007, calls for ‘An unpolluted night sky that allows the enjoyment and contemplation of the firmament [to] be considered an inalienable right of humankind equivalent to all other environmental, social, and cultural rights, due to its impact on the development of all peoples and on the conservation of biodiversity.’ Similarly, within the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, there is repeated emphasis placed on the right to protect and access religious and cultural sites. As an illustration, the Australian government designated Warrumbungle National Park, home to the Kamilaroi people, as a ‘Dark Sky Park’ in which responsible lighting principles are implemented to preserve and protect the night sky. As of February 2025, there are over 200 Dark Sky Places globally, including Northumberland and Kielder Water and Forest International Dark Sky Park in the North East of England, the second largest area of protected Night Sky in Europe and the current place of writing. Furthermore, in the UK, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dark Skies, a multiorganizational group, continues to push for an updated legal framework that rectifies light pollution through policy and legislative action, just as is done with other forms of pollution such as CO2 emissions or acid rain. Such a policy has successfully been introduced in other countries, such as France through their Decree of 27 December 2018 on the prevention, reduction and limitation of light pollution. Importantly, the Decree first acknowledges light as a pollutant requiring regulation ‘to prevent, limit and reduce … excessive disturbance to persons, fauna, flora or ecosystems, causing energy wastage or preventing observation of the night sky’. The Decree goes on to establish technical requirements for the design and operation of outdoor lighting, applicable to both public and private property.
Whilst, at present, the above declarations have proven more effective at protecting against Earth-based ALAN, there is no reason the rights contained within cannot be extended to space-based light pollution. That is to say, by adopting guidelines that aim to mitigate light pollution and implementing the previously mentioned best practices to reduce visual interference, satellite operators would be taking a significant step towards the unification of space activities and international human and indigenous rights, namely the right to a pristine sky.
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