According to Imperial College London, BlueWalker 3 commands “the largest commercial antenna system ever deployed into low-Earth orbit” at 64 square meters. That’s a worrying precedent for light pollution. While scientists are accustomed to seeing satellites in the course of their observations, the final images need to be digitally altered to remove the resulting streaks. When a chain of satellites — such as Starlink trains — passes by, the task becomes incredibly burdensome, as correcting those images is not easy. BlueWalker 3, with its massive reflection profile, could be dramatically more disruptive.
Technically described as artificial light at night (ALAN), light pollution is not only a source of optical interference by such large satellites but there is also another aspect of radio interference that needs to be addressed simultaneously, according to experts. An exhaustive report by the International Astronomical Union [PDF] highlights the scope of the problem and proposes guidelines for protecting the “science of astronomy” from man-made satellites. Then there’s the cosmic heritage aspect. SpaceX already has the FCC permit to launch 12,000 satellites and plans to launch an additional 30,000 units. Scientists are concerned that these satellites will soon cloud the pristine view for not just them, but the average star-gazer, too.
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