A new 'Cow-culation' warns that falling satellite debris poses a growing risk to livestock in New Zealand.
April 1, 2026
Original Paper
Cow-culation: Reentry Impact Risk to Livestock in the Satellite Megaconstellation Era
arXiv · 2603.29324
The Takeaway
As megaconstellations like Starlink increase the number of satellites falling back to Earth, researchers calculated the odds of space junk hitting a cow. Using bovine density data, they found a 0.3-1% chance of a 'cow-sualty' in the next five years, noting that cows are 'squishy and move slowly' compared to falling debris.
From the abstract
The commercial space industry is launching more satellites into Low Earth Orbit every year. Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) has a thriving dairy and cattle industry. Unfortunately, these industries could come into (high speed) cow-llision, as the rapid launch rate and short operational lifetimes of satellites in megaconstellations like Starlink result in a high reentry rate at NZ's latitudes. This could intersect with NZ's famously large population of livestock. We predict this will be an udder disast