Largest Commercial Satellites Unfurl, Outshining Most of the Night Sky
- by Gizmodo
- Oct 25, 2024
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Huge ‘Cell Phone Towers in Space’ Pose Major Threat to Radio Astronomy, Scientists Warn
The company’s prototype satellite unfurled its giant array in late 2022, outshining most objects in the skies except for the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, and seven of the brightest stars. BlueWalker 3 appeared as bright as two of the ten brightest stars in the night sky, Procyon and Achernar, through the lenses of different telescopes, according to a Nature study published in October 2023. Before unfurling its array, the satellite had a brightness magnitude of around +3.5, making it visible to the naked eye. However, after deploying its antenna array, its brightness increased by about two magnitudes.
Unfortunately, now there’s five more of them. AST SpaceMobile launched its five BlueBird satellites on September 12, seeking to build a constellation of more than 100 satellites in low Earth orbit to provide nationwide coverage across the U.S.
The latest constellation is an indication of an increasingly worrying problem that’s suffocating Earth orbit, with the number of large satellites increasing five times over the past 12 years, according to a letter sent by a group of space experts to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
“Experts from top universities are warning we’re in a short window of time when we can prevent making a mess of space and our atmosphere rather than spend decades cleaning it up,” Lucas Gutterman, director of the U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s Designed to Last Campaign, said in the letter. “The new space race doesn’t need to create massive space waste.”
The letter calls on the FCC to follow the recommendations of the U.S. Government Accountability Office and stop excluding satellites from environmental reviews. AST SpaceMobile isn’t the only company trying to build cellular towers in space. SpaceX is building its own constellation of satellites, with more than 6,000 Starlink satellites currently in low Earth orbit. Amazon, OneWeb, and Lynk Global are other companies trying to get in on the action.
Those satellites, however, have a major impact that can’t be ignored. “Artificial satellites, even those invisible to the naked eye, can obstruct astronomical observations that help detect asteroids and understand our place in the universe,” Robert McMillan, an astronomy professor and founder of the Spacewatch Project at the University of Arizona, said in the letter.
The letter continues, “This is a new frontier, and we should save ourselves a lot of trouble by making sure we move forward in a way that doesn’t cause major problems for our future.”
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