--- title: "Astronomers Slam SpaceX’s Growing Starlink Satellite Constellation" description: "SpaceX's Starlink satellites could have an extreme impact on astronomy and scientific process, according to a Satcon1 report. Find out why." date: "2020-08-25" modified: "2020-09-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/astronomers-slam-spacex-growing-starlink-satellite-constellation" categories: - "Future Society" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "constellations" - "SpaceX" - "starlink" - "the digest" --- # Astronomers Slam SpaceX’s Growing Starlink Satellite Constellation ![A new report slammed SpaceX's plans to launch more than 30,000 Starlink low-Earth satellites, noting their "extreme" impact on scientific endeavors.]() *\Image: Movie Vertigo via YouTube\* ## Extreme Impact According to a [new report]() by the Satellite Constellations 1 (Satcon1) workshop, attended by more than 250 astronomers in late July, [SpaceX's Starlink]() internet-beaming satellite constellation could have an "extreme" impact on astronomy and scientific progress. The workshop used computer simulations to examine how satellite constellations such as Starlink, once fully deployed, could affect the operations of Earth-based observatories. "In the last year, the sky has changed, with growing numbers of satellite trails contaminating astronomical images," reads the report. ## Ruining the Night Sky Starlink officially has the permission of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch [more than 30,000]() small satellites, designed to bring broadband internet to the entire globe. But, as the last couple of months have shown, the highly reflective satellites are already [ruining wide-field observations]() of the night sky. Some of them turned out to be so bright, they could be easily [seen with the naked eye](). And that could be bad news for astronomers. Scientific discoveries such as the identification of a near-Earth object or a super-Earth exoplanet candidate could be missed thanks to noise created by the satellites' trails. "If the 100,000 or more \[low-Earth satellites\] proposed by many companies and many governments are deployed, no combination of mitigations can fully avoid the impacts of the satellite trails on the science programs of current and planned ground-based optical-NIR astronomy facilities," concludes the report. ## Making Do The report does note, however, that SpaceX has [worked with the scientific community]() to try to make future generations of its Starlink satellites less reflective and therefore disruptive. "SpaceX has shown that operators can reduce reflected sunlight through satellite body orientation, Sun shielding, and surface darkening," reads the report. But even with those measures in place, the report found that observatories will likely have to "adopt more dynamic scheduling and observation management as the number of constellation satellites increases." **READ MORE:** [Hundreds of astronomers warn Elon Musk's Starlink satellites could limit scientific discoveries]() \[*The Independent*\] **More on constellations:** *[Amazon’s Constellation of 3,236 Satellites Has Astronomers Very, Very Freaked Out]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()