The first satellites of the giant constellation Starlink have caused a stir among astronomers. Their brightness surprised everyone and caused visual pollution of the sky, observable with the naked eye from Earth. Elon Musk had promised to find a solution to this problem. Maybe it is.
The new batch of 57 satellites launched this week have been decked out with sunshades to reduce their reflective power. It will be necessary to observe if this has an effect during their trajectory towards their orbit and once they are operational. Vigilance will therefore remain essential for several months to come.
Starlink is a constellation of several tens of thousands of satellites. This network must provide high and very high speed Internet access in areas of the world that are not or poorly connected.
The start-up of the service is still scheduled for mid-2020 in the United States. Recently opened pre-registrations have exceeded expectations. Space X now plans to launch even more satellites to keep up with demand. This should not make astronomers happy.
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Source: https://www.01net.com/actualites/space-x-reduit-la-luminosite-de-ses-satellites-1958359.html
SpaceX, Elon Musk, Satellite, Falcon 9, Launch vehicle
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World news – EN – Space X, Elon Musk’s company, reduces the brightness of its satellites
