Helium Axxent has just published a potentially sensitive article entitled “Helium Network Tracking Space Junk With IoT Telescopes.” This article describes how the Helium blockchain allows coordination of up to 100 IoT telescopes that will track satellites and other space objects orbiting the Earth.
Helium Axxent has released a potentially controversial article, "Helium Network Tracking Space Junk With IoT Telescopes," documenting how near-earth space junk, debris and pollution will soon be identified and tracked, even those objects belonging to image-conscious, camera-shy Russian, Chinese and other governments.
The 470 word article examines how the Helium blockchain is enabling startup Exclosure to track unidentified Russian and Chinese near-earth space objects. The article provides another example use-case for the radio-frequency decentralized peer-to-peer Helium IoT-connectivity network. But, even though identifying and tracking space junk is not much more than a science project so far, it could be perceived as a threat, as it promises to expose major world government polluters, including Russia, China and the U.S.
Below is a portion of the article, which captures the essence of the controversial element:
"Russia, China, India and the United States have all, on occasion, shot down their own satellites when deemed expedient, resulting in just part of the massive junkyard of miscellaneous objects orbiting the earth. The origins and purposes of many other objects circling the earth are not always shared by responsible governments, so it's difficult to assign or assess risks and pollution contributions."
Last year Russia practiced its satellite-killer weaponry on one of its own defunct satellites, Cosmos 1408. The successful test blasted the target into more than 1,500 trackable size pieces, creating an orbiting field of debris about 300 miles above the earth. Beijing claimed that one of the resulting shards came within 50 feet of smashing into the Chinese Tsinghua scientific satellite at a speed of nearly 12,000 miles per hour.
Elon Musk's fleet of low-earth orbit internet-broadcasting Starlink satellites has drawn criticism for its growing contribution to light pollution of the night skies. The planned constellation of tens of thousands of mini-satellites also poses collision risks. Recently, Chinese citizens ranted against Musk's project after a Starlink satellite came close to colliding with China's space station, forcing it to resort to evasive maneuvers.
As documented in the article, the stated goal of Exclosure is "capturing data on space objects . . . establishing who owns what, and where it is in space." Whether or not Exclosure will receive directions or warnings about not identifying or tracking spy satellites of foreign or domestic governments is not clear. Sometimes, even science is trumped by politics.
Regarding Helium Axxent's article, analyst Rickey Williams says "Of course Helium Axxent never sets out to intentionally upset anybody. The aim of our articles is first and foremost to provide insights into the extraordinary use cases of the Helium Project and Helium token.. For these insights to mean anything, however, we lose credibility if we shy away from potentially sensitive topics.
Although our "Helium Network Tracking Space Junk With IoT Telescopes" article might not pass censorship reviews by Russian, Chinese and other governments wanting to keep their near-earth outer space activities secret, our duty is to our readers. We believe it's more important to describe how the Helium Project can provide value to society, than to please everyone."
Since 2021, Helium Axxent has provided in-depth articles on the progress of Helium as it uses blockchain technology and cryptocurrency to build out a global Internet-of-Things connectivity network market.
Helium Axxent does not and will not provide investment advice. Stated future aims for the website are to provide insights into the Helium project and related cryptocurrency topics. Helium Axxent expects any controversy related to its Exclosure article to pass quickly, and re-emphasizes no offense is or was intended.
Helium Axxent's complete article can be found at https://heliumaxxent.com/helium-space-iot
