SpaceX will make its Starlink satellites less of a blight on the night sky
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SpaceX will make its Starlink satellites less of a blight on the night sky
On April 22nd, SpaceX launched its eighth payload of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Shortly thereafter, the satellites might be seen from the bottom, appearing to be dots of sunshine traversing the night sky. consistent with Elon Musk, the corporate is functioning on reducing the glare that these CubeSats create. The founder and CEO said that “sunshades” — which are made from a dark foam that hardly affects radio transmissions — could help the satellites keep a coffee profile. this is often excellent news for astronomers, who fear that Starlink’s growing constellation could disrupt their view of space. the corporate was approved to launch 12,000 satellites and has applied to launch 30,000 more. (422 are currently orbiting Earth immediately .) Space.com helps put those numbers into perspective by remarking that each one of humanity has launched just 9,400 objects into space so far.
SpaceX has been consistently launching new payloads since late last year, and another launch is penciled certain next month. the corporate plans to equip the satellites within the following launch with the sunshades, and hopes to be ready to provide internet service via Starlink by the center of the year.
