ESO: SpaceX plans to launch 1M satellites for space-based data centres

https://mastodon.social/@esoastronomy/116844620404236120

by ColinWright • 21 days ago

3 2 21 days ago

mastodon.social

rvnx• 21 days ago

Ruining the planet, and we perhaps will miss the most important discoveries of the universe because of such programs.

rlt• 21 days ago

perhaps will miss the most important discoveries of the universe because of such programs

Unlikely for a number of reasons, and actually a large commercial constellation could help with scientific discovery.

Satellite trajectories are predictable from published ephemerides. It’s trivial for telescope operators to exclude the small fraction of pixels in a frame occupied by a satellite. They already do this.

Satellite operators are also careful not to transmit towards radio quiet zones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_quiet_zone

Furthermore, the same technology that makes it economical to put millions of satellites into LEO (e.g. Starship) also makes it cheaper to build larger telescopes in space where they’re unaffected by the earth’s atmosphere (and satellites in LEO).

ESO: SpaceX plans to launch 1M satellites for space-based data centres

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