The BlueWalker3 satellite, which launched in September on a SpaceX rocket, is now one of the brightest objects in the night sky—threatening the research of both optical and radio astronomers.
already litter low-Earth orbit. The 64-square-meter BlueWalker 3 is the largest one yet, considerably brighter than any of the Starlink satellites deployed by SpaceX, says astronomer John Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting. On top of the light pollution, BlueWalker 3 is testing a transmission technology that threatens to trespass into the frequencies used by radio observatories on Earth, he says. “This just fundamentally feels different,” he says. “We’re in new territory here.
BlueWalker 3 is a prototype for a constellation of 168 even larger satellites called BlueBirds. AST SpaceMobile CEO Abel Avellan has argued his fleet, which would pale in comparison with the tens of thousands of planned Starlink crafts, won’t interfere with optical astronomy. But Barentine says even a small crew of these larger, flashier orbiters will obstruct ground-based telescopes’ ability to detect space objects—including potentially hazardous asteroids.
Optical astronomers aren’t the only researchers threatened. The direct-to-mobile cell service that BlueWalker 3 and its successors aim to provide requires a much stronger beam and broader use of the radio spectrum than existing networks, sparking. On Earth, various regulatory bodies prohibit companies from operating in protected “radio-quiet zones” and from using certain frequencies that radio observatories use to probe the universe. But those regulations don’t apply to space.
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