Newest Starlink satellites are leaking even more radiation than their predecessors — and could soon disrupt astronomy
- by Live Science
- Sep 27, 2024
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Related: World's largest communication satellite is a photobombing menace, astronomers warn
The first batch of V2 mini Starlink satellites were launched on Feb. 27, 2023. In this photo, they were stacked on top of one another before being loaded onto the Falcon 9 rocket.
(Image credit: SpaceX)
The UEMR from these new satellites and all those that will follow them into orbit over the next few decades could end up "blinding radio telescopes and crippling vital research of the universe," researchers wrote in a statement.
The UEMR emitted by the Den 2 satellites is up to 10 million times brighter than the faintest radio-visible objects in the night sky. "This difference is similar to the faintest stars visible to the naked eye and the brightness of the Full Moon," study lead author Cees Bassa, an astronomer at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), said in the statement.
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The number of Starlink satellites being launched into space is also increasing year-on-year, which means the problem will likely get much worse. SpaceX has already launched more than 1,300 satellites into space in 2024 — all of which have been V2 minis.
Other satellite megaconstellations, such as China's Thousand Sails Constellation and Amazon's Project Kuiper, are also starting to take shape, which could worsen the issue if they also leak UEMR. The study researchers estimate there could be up to 100,000 satellites in orbit by the end of the decade.
SpaceX has been launching an average of 40 Starlink satellites into orbit every week in 2024. This rocket launched on May 9.
(Image credit: Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
Study co-author Federico Di Vruno, an astronomer at the SKA observatory in the UK, says that we will eventually reach an "inflection point" where the amount of UEMR leaking from satellites will completely obscure radio astronomers' view of the cosmos. "We need to take action to preserve our sky as a window to explore the universe from Earth," Di Vruno said.
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