October 29, 2024, 6:49 PM 0:45 A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a payload of 20 Starlink internet satellites into space after sunset above the Pacific Ocean after launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 18, 2024, as seen from San Diego, California. Kevin Carter/Getty Images As Elon Musk's Starlink continues to launch an internet network of thousands of satellites into the atmosphere, the environmental implications are unknown without a formal review, experts warn. The Starlink system aims to provide high-speed broadband internet access around the world, especially to areas where it's unreliable or nonexistent, such as rural areas, according to the company. While the benefits of increased access are unquestionable, the rate at which commercial satellites are being propelled into the atmosphere -- without studying the impact on the environment -- has some experts calling for intervention. SpaceX Starlink seen in the sky above Svendborg on South Funen, Denmark, on Apr. 21, 2020. MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a group of 100 space researchers from universities, research observatories and space institutes asked for the government agency to press pause on new satellite launches to allow for environmental review. "We should look before we leap," researchers cautioned in the letter. While long-term impacts remain unknown, researchers said what is evident is more satellites and more launches lead to more damaging gases and metals in the atmosphere. ABC News has reached out to Starlink for a comment. Since Space X's Starlink satellites were first launched into low Earth orbit in May 2019, the FCC has approved the company to deploy nearly 12,000 satellites into space -- a number researchers say is expected to soar. "The new space race is ramping up quickly: some experts are estimating an additional 58,000 satellites will be launched by 2030," researchers said in the Oct. 24 letter. A view of lined up beams of light of the Starlink satellites spotted in sky over Hatay, Turkey on May 8, 2021. Burhan Ates/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images MORE: SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites as part of mission to bring internet to the world