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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tom Perkins

Trump administration to stop US research on space pollution, in boon to Elon Musk

Blackness, with Earth in the middle, and 12,000 white dots around it.
An artist’s impression of an approximate 12,000 objects in orbit around Earth. Photograph: ESA/AFP/Getty Images

The Trump administration is poised to kill federal research into pollution from satellites and rockets, including some caused by Elon Musk’s space companies, raising new conflict-of-interest questions about the billionaire SpaceX and Starlink owner.

The pollution appears to be accumulating in the stratosphere at alarming levels. Some fear it could destroy the ozone layer, potentially expose some people to higher levels of ultraviolet radiation or help further destabilize the Earth’s climate during the climate crisis.

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