American space company SpaceX has an ambitious plan to launch thousands of tiny satellites into orbit to provide global internet access to everyone on Earth.
Several hundred have already been launched and are firmly based in orbit. This week, they’ll be flying over the UK giving dedicated skywatchers yet another intriguing opportunity alongside the Lyrid meteor shower.
Looking like a chain of lights in the sky, Starlink has attracted some controversy from astronomers worried they will blot out the chance to study the stars.
But instead of diminishing interest in the night sky, it seems like many people are getting outside to try and spot the satellites for themselves.
The good news is Starlink will be passing over the UK all week so providing the weather stays clear you should have plenty of opportunities to spot them yourself.
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The satellites will appear in the west and move through the centre of the sky to the east, passing through the constellation of the Plough.
You shouldn’t need any telescopes or specialist equipment to see them, just give your eyes some time to adjust to the darkness.
The exact time of the passage this evening will start at 10.34pm as Starlink-5,6 passes across the sky. It should be visible for around six minutes.
At present, there are 300 Starlink satellites in place with SpaceX eventually planning to put 12,000 in place.
SpaceX is sending them up in batches of 60, with the most recent launch taking place in mid-March.
The National Space Centre in Leicester said each batch was deployed to an orbit about 180 miles above Earth and had moved to about 340 miles away.
People have reported seeing the satellites all across the country in London, Manchester and Leeds as well as across Europe.
Even astronauts have been stopping to admire the string of satellites zooming above the Earth.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has previously claimed that once active, the network will deliver ‘one terabit of bandwidth’ to Earth, with the aim of using the new network to provide better internet access to under-served parts of the world.
A previous demonstration of prototypes called Tintin A and B was carried out in February 2018 with coverage good enough to play fast response video games, Mr Musk claimed.
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2020-04-21 09:37:10Z
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