Since launching its first batch of Starlink internet satellites in 2019, SpaceX now has more than 8,000 of them operating in low-Earth orbit, with a long-term plan to expand the constellation to as many as 42,000.
But the satellites, which provide broadband internet to residential and business customers around the world, have caused some controversy over the years because sunlight reflecting off of them creates bright streaks that interfere with astronomers’ observations of deep space. Another issue is the radio signals emitted by the satellites, which also disrupt astronomers’ ability to collect data.
Many images have been shared from ground-based skywatchers showing the satellites passing overhead, but now we have a rare space-based view of them thanks to a short video (below) shared this week by NASA astronaut Don Pettit.
“My best sighting of a Starlink satellite ‘train’ from orbit!” Pettit said in a post on X on Tuesday.
The footage, captured by Pettit during a recent visit to the International Space Station (ISS), clearly shows a number of Starlink satellites in a long line (the so-called train) as the orbital outpost passes by.
As we’ve seen from earlier images taken by telescopes on the ground, the bright reflections create streaks of light that impact astronomers’ efforts to observe the cosmos. But it’s not only ground-based telescopes that are affected, as observations made by the Hubble Space Telescope, which, like the Starlink satellites, is also in low-Earth orbit, have also been impacted.
SpaceX has tried to lessen the brightness of the reflections by equipping its satellites with visors, while radio interference has been reduced by pausing satellite transmissions when passing over major radio astronomy stations. But the Starlink satellites have continued to affect astronomers’ work.
The expanding number of Starlink satellites remains a concern for astronomers, who continue to call for greater collaboration to reduce the light and radio interference.
With numerous Starlink satellites continuing to be deployed by SpaceX on a regular basis, and other companies like Amazon building their own Starlink-like constellations of internet satellites, the issue needs to be properly addressed before the situation gets out of control.
Indeed, researchers at the Paris Observatory and the Nançay Radio Astronomy Observatory warned recently that without effective action, the consequences for astronomy — particularly radio astronomy — could be disastrous.
