Enjoying the stars at night may not be that easy in the near future.

Astronomers and amature star gazers have noticed more and more satellites in the night sky recently due to a launch of over 60 communications satellites by SpaceX last fall and there are a lot more to come.

According to a media release by SpaceX they just launched a third big batch of Starlink internet satellites. The 60 satellites lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 6th from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, deploying into an orbit about 290 kilometres above the earth. They join the two previous 60-member Starlink launches, which occurred in May and November of last year.

Dr. Phil Langill, Director at Rothney Astrophysical Observatory located near Priddis, Alberta, says the starry skies we enjoy now will soon look very different.

"Although it's just starting now with the launching of the satellites, in a short time it's going to be an unbelievable amount of satellites moving across the sky."

He shares the same opinion as many other astronomers around the world who are concerned with the number of satellites streaming overhead and the interference they bring to observing the stars.

Dr. Langill says astronomers have some specialized equipment that they can try and remove the satelite image from their photographs but for the average person wanting to set up their telescope or camera to take pictures, the clutter of lights will be difficult to determine what is a star and what is just a satellite.

Dr. Langill says he thinks there will be a big backlash from the general public not wanting to have so much interference in the night sky.

"This is like graffiti." said Dr. Langill, "It's like somebody just wrote with a spray paint can all across the sky."

He has concerns with the impression all of these satelites in space will have on the general public.

"I think people are going to feel like big brother is watching and there is this constant stream of satelites going by. It's like an infringement on our freedom to enjoy the sky."

The word "Megaconstellation" has been used to describe the ambitious plans of Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, and it's no exaggeration. SpaceX already has permission from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to launch up to 12,000 Starlink craft. And the company has filed paperwork with the International Telecommunication Union for the potential use of 30,000 additional satellites.

According to a media release from SpaceX there are 3 phases to the operation and the Starlink satellites will be visible from earth only when they are first launched and orbit the earth at an altitude of 290 km. During this initial phase the satellites are clustered together and are very visible from earth. It will take about 3 to 4 months for them to raise altitude up to 550 km above the earth when they will begin 'onstation service'. The plan is to increase internet service to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable.

There's no guarantee SpaceX will end up launching the already-approved 12,000 satellites. Elon Musk said earlier last year that economically they may only be looking at about 1,000 satellites.

For perspective, only about 2,000 operational satellites currently circle Earth, and humanity has launched only about 9,000 craft since the dawn of the Space Age, in 1957, according to the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs.

SpaceX isn't the only company with megaconstellation ambitions. A letter to the American Federal Communications Commission filed by Amazon on January 27th, 2020, asks for an "expeditious grant" to launch 3, 236 satellites as detailed in it's "Kuiper System" project.

And OneWeb, a London based company, has plans to launch 30 satellites early this year in order to establish a big network of broadband satellites in low Earth orbit as well.

Dr. Langill says it's not just Canadians that will feel the effects of these satelites but everyone around the world.

"What you see passing over your head someone in eastern Canada will see 2 minutes later. So it's effecting everyone on the planet."

Dr. Langill admits he does not know the technical details that go into making the satelites but he does have a suggestion.

"I think the fix is easy. You want to put satelites in space to help people communicate on the internet, you don't have to make them shiny and glowing." he says, "Maybe the people who are designing these satelites can change the reflectivity so that they can do what they want to do and not disturb everybody that's on the ground."

 

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