{"id":16059,"date":"2026-07-02T06:24:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T06:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=16059"},"modified":"2026-07-02T06:24:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T06:24:00","slug":"planned-1-7-million-satellites-devastating-for-astronomy-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=16059","title":{"rendered":"Planned 1.7 million satellites &#8216;devastating&#8217; for astronomy: study"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p>The 1.7 million satellites that companies are aiming to launch into Earth\u2019s orbit in the coming years will have \u201cdevastating consequences for astronomy\u201d, new research warned Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The plans to swarm Earth with huge, extremely bright satellites represent an \u201cexistential threat\u201d to telescopes viewing the universe, according to the European Southern Observatory (ESO) which conducted the research.<\/p>\n<p>To retain humanity\u2019s ability to properly explore the night sky, the team of researchers called for a maximum limit of 100,000 satellites orbiting Earth.<\/p>\n<p>The study is the first to calculate how much the constellations of big and particularly bright satellites being planned would impact astronomical observations by making the night sky brighter.<\/p>\n<p>The number of satellites orbiting Earth has now reached 14,000 after surging in recent years, many of them part of trillionaire Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink internet constellation.<\/p>\n<p>But that is just the start.<\/p>\n<p>Musk\u2019s SpaceX company has announced plans to launch more than one million satellites by 2028 to serve as data centres powering the artificial intelligence boom.<\/p>\n<p>Other projects such as the \u201cCinnamon\u201d plans of start-up E-Space and Chinese constellations CTC-1 and CTC-2 would add hundreds of thousands more satellites spinning around our planet.<\/p>\n<p>And US startup Reflect Orbital hopes to launch 50,000 huge satellites that use giant mirrors to point sunlight back down to Earth, with the aim of providing light during the night.<\/p>\n<p>In total, more than 1.7 million satellites could soon be lighting up the night sky, obscuring or blotting out the view of ground-based telescopes.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Night sky four times brighter \u2013<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen a satellite crosses what we observe, it makes a bright streak on our image, zapping whatever is behind it,\u201d said ESO astronomer Olivier Hainaut, who led the study published in Astronomy &amp;amp; Astrophysics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the past few years, this has been happening \u2014 but it is still manageable,\u201d Hainaut told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut if we go from 14,000 to 1.7 million, we are really going to have problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Reflect Orbital satellites pose a particularly significant threat to dark skies.<\/p>\n<p>Even when their mirrors are not pointed at the observer, the light they scatter will make each one as bright as Venus \u2014 which is known as the \u201cmorning star\u201d, Hainaut said.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers determined that almost all images captured by the largest camera ever built \u2014 part of the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile \u2014 would be rendered unusable.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you were in France, the Sahara Desert or Chile, the sky \u201cwould no longer be clear, resembling instead the sky seen in the suburbs of a city,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n<p>And in light-polluted cities, the satellites \u201cwould be the only \u2018stars\u2019 visible in the night sky,\u201d according to the ESO.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>All 50,000 Reflect Orbital satellites would also make the whole night sky up to four times brighter, it added.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 \u2018Ball in FCC\u2019s court\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Hainaut called for the number of orbiting satellites to be limited to 100,000 \u2014 and that they be made dim enough to be invisible to the naked eye.<\/p>\n<p>Reflect Orbital and SpaceX are awaiting a decision from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about whether they can launch their constellations.<\/p>\n<p>The new study served as the basis for the ESO\u2019s response to their applications, in collaboration with the UK\u2019s Royal Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ball is now in the FCC\u2019s court,\u201d the ESO\u2019s institutional affairs officer Betty Kioko said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor optical astronomy, this is an existential threat, and we hope that the regulators will share that view.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The light pollution created by constellations of very bright satellites is not just a problem for astronomers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The loss of dark sky has been found to disrupt the biological clocks of humans and animals \u2014 and interfere with ecosystems.<\/p>\n<p>There is also the energy and environmental impact of launching nearly two million satellites into space.<\/p>\n<p>And there are concerns that huge amounts of space debris from satellites could increasingly crash into each other in a dangerous chain reaction known as \u201cKessler syndrome\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:90px; background:#4ecdc4; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114300\" data-width=\"728\" data-height=\"90\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114300});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u4e3b\u680f\uff1a\u591a\u5e7f\u544a\u5806\u53e0 -->\r\n  <div style=\"display:grid; 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display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> Planned 1.7 million satellites &#8216;devastating&#8217; for astronomy: study<br \/>\n<br \/>#Planned #million #satellites #devastating #astronomy #study<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 1.7 million satellites that companies are aiming to launch into Earth\u2019s orbit in the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[13616,2598,50,4296,13615,248],"class_list":["post-16059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-astronomy","tag-devastating","tag-million","tag-planned","tag-satellites","tag-study"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7.jpg",768,511,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7.jpg",640,426,false],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7.jpg",640,426,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7.jpg",768,511,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7.jpg",768,511,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7.jpg",768,511,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7-768x500.jpg",768,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7.jpg",768,511,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/93fac80fce701f9a4ceab587f5e3e2b860e5f1b7-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=7\" rel=\"category\">Stories<\/a>","tag_info":"Stories","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}