Always fascinating to see who’s trying to tag whom with negative press in headlines. After reading the story, it has almost nothing to do with the Kuiper satellites. Amazon will be launching two satellites this week, one with active light-pollution mitigation to determine it’s effectiveness compared to an unmitigated satellite. There are 3200 potential Kuiper satellites planned through 2029. OTOH…(FTFA):
“…SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which is now nearly 4,800 strong” and “Starlink now comprises more than half of all satellites in orbit, and SpaceX is seeking regulatory approval for 30,000 more.”
It’s curious that the call-out in the title is for Kuiper, when their planned constellation is less than 10% of the satellites Starlink will have over the same near-term deployment period.
Why aren’t the “fronts” of satellites (the parts that can reflect light towards earth) coated in something like vantablack? If heat absorption is the issue, put a big heat exchanger on the back. It seems weird to try and come up with high-tech solutions when we already have compounds that would likely reduce light reflection significantly. It wouldn’t be a one-size-fits all solution, you’d still have to figure out how to orient solar panels to not reflect light towards earth, or how to dispell the excess heat, but I’d hope it’d dim them significantly.
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