The billionaire space enthusiast Elon Musk captured people’s attention when he revealed SpaceX’s satellite internet project that aims to provide high-speed, low latency broadband internet, especially for those who live in rural areas, where access has been unreliable.
In northern France, the small village of Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron in Normandy is, however, unhappy with Musk’s space internet service. The village-dwellers asked Musk for keeping his antennas far away from the area.
“This project is totally new. We don’t have any idea of the impact of these signals,” said Noemie Brault, deputy mayor of the Normandy village.
“As a precaution, the municipal council said no,” she said.
Starlink had already secured French approval for four sites, one of which was in the village of Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron. Nine three-meter tall domes protecting the antennae are expected to be installed within the scope of the project.
Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, plans to place thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit. SpaceX has more than 1,000 Starlink satellites into orbit. The initial Starlink constellation will consist of 1,440 satellites, per Space.com.
AFP photo
As Starlink launches more satellites, install more ground stations and improve the networking software, data speed, latency and uptime will improve dramatically, says the company’s website.
But the residents and farmers in Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron are worrying about Starlink antennas concerning their possible effects of the signals on the health of humans or animals, reported The Local.
“And when you hear that he wants to implant a chip in people’s brains, it’s frightening,” Brault said, referring to Musk’s Neuralink project.
According to Francois Dufour, a retired farmer, believes residents had enough reason to worry. “The risks from electromagnetic waves is something we’ve already seen with high-voltage power lines, which have disturbed lots of farmers in the area,” he touched upon an past event.
“We’re not attacking Elon Musk,” said Anne-Marie Falguieres, who lives just 60 metres from the future Starlink station.
“We’re not technophobes. I’m a guide on the bay, I have an internet site, my husband works from home. But these antennas are completely new, at least in France, and we want to know if they’re dangerous or not,” she concluded.
