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A 40 year old loophole exempts satellites that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere from NEPA oversight. As satellites are now meant to be replaced every 5 years, mega-constellations will generate a steady stream of junk in the upper atmosphere where metallic ash could remain for hundreds of years.


A forty-year-old legal loophole means that air pollution produced when old satellites burn up in Earth’s atmosphere is exempt from environmental oversight. Is the exemption justified in the age of mega-constellations?

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