(ORDO NEWS) — The Earth‘s orbit is getting tighter and tighter. Companies and governments are launching new satellites, and scientists are increasingly complaining that they create obstacles to observing the sky and space. The new satellite will surpass all the previous ones in this.
The thousands of SpaceX satellites launched every year are already harming scientists’ observations by appearing as long streaks of light and interfering with radio signals.
The new spacecraft, which launched over the weekend, is of deep concern to experts because of its size – it is “absolutely gigantic” and possibly the brightest object in the night sky other than the Moon.
More is worse
– The device, built by Texas-based AST SpaceMobile, is an experimental cellular satellite.
– The satellite weighing about 3,300 pounds has been named BlueWalker 3 and is the largest commercial antenna array ever launched.
– Eventually, he will deploy a 26-foot antenna, a huge reflective object in the night sky that is causing deep concern among experts.
We are concerned. It could be the brightest object in the night sky, potentially brighter than the planet Venus, says John Barentin, an astronomer at Dark Sky Consulting in Tucson, Arizona.
– There is a possibility that BlueWalker 3 will damage radio astronomy equipment as it transmits data from orbit to a smartphone.
– Even worse, AST SpaceMobile plans to launch more than 100 even larger satellites called BlueBirds next year – twice the size of BlueWalker 3.
The brighter these objects become, the more damage they will do to images of the night sky, said Barentin.
So far, the satellite appears to have completed its full deployment.
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