Forbes46%
1.7 Million Satellites Will Have ‘Devastating Consequences,’ Study Says 48%
By Jamie Carter0%
7/2/2026, 6:27:53 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 24 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Confirmation Bias, and Pessimism Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 36.6% saturation with 204 hits. Analysis detected 1,195 faulty-reasoning hits from 557 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 48.9% and a BS Rank of 48% (11,542 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 52.70% of the article peer group.
A new study by the European Southern Observatory warns that plans to launch more than 1.7 million satellites into orbit could have “devastating consequences for astronomy,” making the night sky brighter and reducing scientists’ ability to observe the galaxy and the universe beyond.
SpaceX is set to build a new economy in low Earth orbit, expanding its current Starlink telecommunications constellation and adding orbital AI data centers and even wirelessly transmitted solar power from space.
The study — only the latest to warn about the scientific and environmental dangers of crowding Earth’s orbit — concludes that Earth orbit should be limited to no more than 100,000 faint satellites, all below naked-eye visibility, to protect modern ground-based astronomy.
According to Orbital Radar, there are currently 17,501 satellites orbiting Earth — 10,000 of them active SpaceX Starlink satellites.
“Until now we have managed, but it’s getting worse,” said Hainaut, an astronomer at ESO for over 30 years.
Although some companies have taken steps to reduce satellite brightness, he warned that current proposals go “beyond the limit” of what astronomy can withstand.
Satellites illuminated by the sun can leave bright streaks across telescope images, blocking faint galaxies, Earth-like exoplanets and potentially dangerous asteroids.
Hainaut found that SpaceX’s mega-constellation could create dozens of satellite trails in images taken by ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile two hours into the night.
That could cause field-of-view losses of up to 28%.
Since they reflect light from the sun when it’s just below the horizon, it’s always just after sunset and just before sunrise that satellites cause the most problems.
Wide-field cameras, such as the one at the Vera C.
Rubin Observatory, could be even more vulnerable.
A bright satellite trail can saturate detectors, produce ghost trails and potentially make images unusable.
The study raises particular concern about Reflect Orbital, a U.S. start-up planning large mirror-like satellites designed to provide sunlight at night.
The company aims to launch a prototype soon and expand to 50,000 satellites by 2035.
Hainaut’s calculations show these satellites could become the brightest objects ever placed in orbit.
From inside a reflected beam, one satellite could appear four times brighter than the full moon.
Even when not aimed directly at an observer, each satellite could appear as bright as Venus.
From a light-polluted city, its satellites would be the only ‘stars’ visible in the night sky.
Hainaut argues the worst impacts can only be avoided by limiting the total number of satellites, existing and future, to around 100,000.
He also stresses that satellites must be fainter than visual magnitude 7, so they remain invisible to the naked eye even under dark skies.
Although they can be that bright soon after launch, Starlinks are typically fade to magnitude 5.5 once they reach their operational orbit, according to Astronomy magazine.
SpaceX and Reflect Orbital have each filed with the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to launch.
“The FCC received over 1,800 comments regarding Reflect Orbital and nearly 1,500 comments on the application by SpaceX,” said Betty Kioko at the ESO’s Institutional Affairs Office.
“The ball is now in the FCC’s court, and we wait to see the determinations they make on both filings.
For optical astronomy, this is an existential threat, and we hope that the regulators will share that view.”
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