---
title: "Scientist: We Should Be Searching for the Alien Version of Elon Musk"
description: "Astronomers may be able to spot alien technosignatures, including the heat given off by satellite constellations like the one launched by Starlink."
date: "2021-05-10"
modified: "2021-05-10"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/searching-alien-version-elon-musk"
categories:
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "aliens"
  - "elon musk"
  - "SETI"
  - "starlink"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientist: We Should Be Searching for the Alien Version of Elon Musk

![Astronomers may be able to spot alien technosignatures, including the heat given off by satellite constellations like the one launched by Starlink.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/searching-alien-version-elon-musk1.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Futurism\</em\>*

## North Star

As SpaceX blankets the night sky with more and more of [its Starlink satellites](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-junk-sky-brighter>), we may be creating a beacon of light for some theoretical spacefaring alien civilization to spot.

And turning that around, our own search for alien life ought to focus on finding other satellite constellations out there, [according to preprint research](<https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.07227>) shared online by Free University of Tbilisi and Georgian National Astrophysical Laboratory physicist Zaza Osmanov. He suggests that we already have the technology capable of spotting these alien megastructures today — and that hunting for technosignatures like satellite constellations built by some alien world's version of Elon Musk will increase our odds of encountering life outside of Earth.

## Housewarming

Osmanov banks on the fact that assembling and operating any megastructures in space, whether they're large constructs or constellations of satellites, would give off heat signatures that could be picked up by the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.

He suggests that the VLT would be able to find a structure from 280 light-years away, a range [that *Universe Today* notes](<https://www.universetoday.com/151114/we-could-detect-extraterrestrial-satellite-megaconstellations-within-a-few-hundred-light-years/>) blankets about 1,000 [Sun-like stars](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/strongest-candidate-alien-message-came-from-sun-like-star>) that could, theoretically, host habitable exoplanets.

## Staying Humble

Osmanov is far from the first to suggest hunting for aliens by specifically looking for [signs of technology](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-hunting-alien-civilizations-pollution>). But as *Universe Today* points out, most of these attempts are focused on theoretical alien civilizations considerably more advanced than we are.

By contrast, this new paper focuses on an overlooked category of technological development that more closely matches where we are on Earth today — or at least [where we could get to](<https://futurism.com/the-kardashev-scale-type-i-ii-iii-iv-v-civilization>) in terms of engineering prowess within the next few hundred years.

**READ MORE:** [We Could Detect Extraterrestrial Satellite Megaconstellations Within a few Hundred Light-Years](<https://www.universetoday.com/151114/we-could-detect-extraterrestrial-satellite-megaconstellations-within-a-few-hundred-light-years/>) \[*Universe Today*\]

**More on Starlink:** *[Space Junk Is Literally Making the Sky Brighter, Astronomer Say](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-junk-sky-brighter>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)