18 April 2020, Brandenburg, Sieversdorf: Two "Starlink" satellites can be seen as stripes of light ... [+]
The SpaceX Starlink mega-constellation now has 422 satellites orbiting Earth after yesterday’s successful launch of another batch of 60.
It was the seventh batch of Starlinks sent to into orbit, and astronomers and astrophotographers are annoyed.
Starlink satellites are brighter than anyone expected, leading to a swarm of bright lights crossing the night sky that look like a “string of pearls.”
Such a sight was visible this week in Europe, and the new batch are sure to be similarly visible in the coming months.
Although many stargazers have enjoyed seeing them streak across the night sky in “trains,” it’s not ideal; Starlink satellites were never intended to be bright, and their brightness is bad news for science.
So what is SpaceX CEO Elon Musk doing about it?
“We’re fixing it now,” said Musk in a tweet after yesterday’s launch, as reported by the BBC.
What does that mean?
Musk said that the issue was the angle of the solar panels during the orbit/raise park. Let’s break that down. He’s referring to the fact that Starlink satellites light-up when the Sun hits their solar panels as viewed from specific locations on Earth in twilight. He’s also referencing the fact that after launch they take some time to reach their operational orbit. That’s why satellites launched in March have been visible as “trains” of over the night skies of Europe this week.
Hopefully, Starlink satellites in their “final” positions won’t flare anywhere near as much as the newly-launched satellites do, but it’s likely that the 60 launched yesterday will cause significant problems for some in the next few months.
The SpaceX Starlink mission launches on April 22, 2020.
With 12,000 satellites planned to be in for the final configuration of the Starlink constellation, that’s potentially a lot of launches and post-launch periods of bright Starlinks.
However, Musk’s comments suggest that SpaceX will change the angle of the satellites’ solar panels to lessen the problem.
Angles and sunshades
In another tweet he said that SpaceX would be changing the angles of the solar panels on Starlink satellites and that they would all be getting “sunshades” starting with launch number nine.
Yesterday’s launch was the seventh Starlink mission, with the eighth planned for May 2020. Dates of further launches are yet to be made public.
When will Starlink go live?
According to SpaceX, Starlink will deliver high speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable. With 422 satellites already in orbit no commercial plans have been officially unveiled.
However, a tweet yesterday by Elon Musk suggested that a private beta of a Starlink broadband internet service would begin in less than three months, followed by a public beta in under six months, though only to locations in “high latitudes.”
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMimQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5mb3JiZXMuY29tL3NpdGVzL2phbWllY2FydGVyZXVyb3BlLzIwMjAvMDQvMjMvaXMtc3BhY2V4LWZpeGluZy1icmlnaHQtc3Rhcmxpbmstc2F0ZWxsaXRlcy1lbG9uLW11c2stc2F5cy15ZXMtYXMtZXVyb3BlLXNlZXMtc3RyaW5nLW9mLXBlYXJscy_SAZ0BaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZm9yYmVzLmNvbS9zaXRlcy9qYW1pZWNhcnRlcmV1cm9wZS8yMDIwLzA0LzIzL2lzLXNwYWNleC1maXhpbmctYnJpZ2h0LXN0YXJsaW5rLXNhdGVsbGl0ZXMtZWxvbi1tdXNrLXNheXMteWVzLWFzLWV1cm9wZS1zZWVzLXN0cmluZy1vZi1wZWFybHMvYW1wLw?oc=5
2020-04-23 11:19:43Z
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