Last November, the satellites in low Earth orbit were deployed to form a vast array spanning nearly 700 square feet, the size of a studio apartment.
The BlueWalker3 satellite has since surpassed some of the brightest stars in the Milky Way, making it one of the brightest objects in the sky, it said. Research published on Monday And it’s just the first of dozens of similar satellites being developed by AST SpaceMobile, a company aimed at keeping smartphones connected from orbit.
Astronomers were already concerned about the emergence of giant satellites like SpaceX’s Starlink, which have shiny surfaces that can obstruct views of space from the ground. The launch and introduction of BlueWalker3 further exacerbated these concerns.
“The problem isn’t necessarily that one moon,” said Siegfried Eggl, an astrophysicist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and author of the new study, “but it’s the constellation’s predecessor or prototype. So there will be problems,” he said. Eventually there will be many. ”
First launched in September 2022, BlueWalker3 is the predecessor to AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellite, which the company says will “democratize access to knowledge and information, regardless of where people live or work.” The goal is to function as a network of mobile phone base stations in orbit, a spokesperson said. AST Space Mobile said.Last month, BlueWalker3 was successful We relayed our first 5G connection To smartphones in the gap of mobile phone coverage on the planet.
AST SpaceMobile is one of many companies vying to capture the burgeoning demand for broadband connectivity around the world. SpaceX has launched about 5,000 satellites into space as part of its Starlink network, which already provides satellite internet services. to the customer In the world. Other companies, such as Amazon (planned) Launch of first prototype satellite on Friday) and OneWeb have similar ambitions, with many countries developing their own communications mega-constellations.
“Currently, we know of 18 constellations planned around the world,” Dr. Eggl said. “The total number of satellites is an amazing 500,000, and people are planning to put them there. That’s 100 times the amount we already have.”
The rapid spread of satellites in recent years has alarmed stargazers in all fields. As a spacecraft crosses the sky, it creates a bright trail and ambient glow in the sky, which can destroy images of celestial objects and obscure darker objects that would otherwise be visible to the naked eye.
“There will be major changes in these constellations,” says Jeremy Tregroan-Reid, an astronomer at the University of Atacama in Chile and author of the study.
AST SpaceMobile has made its array of BlueWalker3s extremely large to transmit powerful cellular coverage directly to phones on Earth. The satellite will consist of a number of small antennas that can connect to existing smartphones, an approach that distinguishes the company from Starlink and other planned satellite constellations, which currently rely on ground or satellite dishes. It is.
To find out the specific impact of BlueWalker3, the authors of the new study compiled satellite observations recorded by amateur and professional astronomers in Chile, the United States, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Morocco. Research has revealed that this global campaign has helped BlueWalker3 reach a magnitude as bright as Procyon and Achernar, two of her ten brightest stars in the entire sky.
“I really liked how they used different telescopes from different parts of the world. It highlights how truly a global problem this is.” astronomer Samantha Lawlor of the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, who wrote an accompanying article in Nature magazine, said. “When one country or one small company launches a satellite, it can be seen anywhere in the world.”
AST SpaceMobile said it is working with astronomers on techniques to reduce disruption. They also compared that number to the tens of thousands of units planned by other companies. “With around 90 satellites we can provide significant global coverage,” a spokesperson said.
Although there are far fewer BlueBird satellites, they are at least 64 times larger and brighter than Starlink satellites. SpaceX’s orbiting satellites are also at their brightest in the first few days after deployment, but fade further once they settle into their target orbits.
Astronomers expect the Bluebird satellite to remain bright in the sky for most of its life. As a result, one of these satellites may interfere with the data captured by the observatory.
“They are so bright that they would ruin the entire image recorded by large telescopes, such as the Vera Rubin Observatory, for example,” Dr. Eggl said.
Currently, there are no regulations preventing companies from launching bright, massive constellations of satellites, but dark sky advocates, including many scientists and indigenous rights groups, argue for the need for rules. And despite efforts by many companies to darken their satellites, they continue to launch satellites at a breakneck pace.
“Progress should not be achieved at all costs,” says Dr. Tregroan-Reid. “It’s like building a brand new development on top of a historic site. You just can’t do that. You have to protect these things.”
He also acknowledged that while astronomers do not own the night sky, they have a vested interest in its preservation.
“What we want to do is share the night sky and help the public understand that this is a potential problem,” he said.