57 Starlinks will fly into space. They will be much less visible in the night sky than before
On July 8 at 17:59 Polish time from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the Falcon 9 rocket will launch with the next batch of SpaceX Starlink satellites.
At the top of the Falcon 9 rocket are currently 57 Starlink satellites and two observation satellites belonging to the BlackSky company, which is currently creating its own satellite constellation.
Starlinki with solar shields
All Starlink satellites that are going into orbit today are already equipped with sun visors to reduce the amount of sunlight reflected by the satellites. In this way, Elon Musk intends to minimize the harmful effects of satellites on the night sky. Earlier constellation satellites immediately after launch into orbit formed a very bright train in the sky consisting of dozens of bright points moving one after the other.
Although many amateurs of the night sky enjoyed such views very much, it soon turned out that Starlinek flights have a very detrimental effect on astronomical observations conducted from Earth by professional astronomers.
For this reason, in cooperation with astronomers, SpaceX has developed shields that are to effectively absorb solar radiation without heating the satellites, so they will not be visible from the ground.
However, in the mirrors of the largest terrestrial telescopes, the satellites will still be very visible, and their planned target number (even 42,000) may significantly hinder or even prevent discovering the secrets of the universe from the Earth's surface.
BlackSky observation satellites
BlackSky is a constellation operator, which will ultimately consist of 60 satellites observing and taking pictures of the Earth's surface.
So far four constellation satellites have been in orbit, today two more will join them.
Today's Falcon 9 is a veteran
Today's satellites have been placed on top of the Falcon 9 rocket using the first element, which has already found its way into space four times. After the satellites are launched into space, SpaceX will attempt to land the first member on the oceanic platform Of Course I Still Love You.
Currently, meteorological forecasts indicate a 60% chance of starting.
You can watch the start report in the window below.
57 Starlinks will fly into space. They will be much less visible in the night sky than before
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