We've despoiled the Earth ... now artificial stars are ruining space | Philip Hoare

The launch of the Humanity Star is proof that the human urge to dominate wild places is as untamed as everNews that Rocket Lab, a New Zealand space company, has somewhat surreptitiously sent a 3ft-wide geodesic sphere into space - looking somewhat like an oversized Christmas tree bauble, has not met with unalloyed joy. Dubbed the Humanity Star, it is due to shine there for nine months (until it burns up in the atmosphere) - a "reminder to all on Earth about our fragile place in the universe", as the company's founder, Peter Beck, says. "It's definitely a reminder," agrees the astrobiologist Carl Scharf, "... because it's infesting the very thing that we urgently need to cherish." Related: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky Continue reading...