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Analysis and Space

SpaceX's efforts to make satellites less bright aren't working well

Megaconstellations of satellites are a problem for astronomy, and while SpaceX has made several attempts to dim its Starlink satellites, they don't seem to be having the desired effect

By Leah Crane

22 April 2023

Shooting stars and Starlink stellites leaving streaks in photographs of the night sky

Shooting stars and Starlink stellites leaving streaks in photographs of the night sky

Shutterstock/Vytautas Kielaitis

SpaceX is working hard to dim its Starlink satellites to minimise their effects on astronomy, but so far the company’s efforts haven’t worked as astronomers had hoped. That might mean that there is a difficult choice ahead: high-speed internet via satellite megaconstellations, or ground-based astronomy unmarred by bright streaks.

So far, SpaceX has launched more than 4200 Starlink telecommunication satellites, the majority of which are still in orbit – they make up more than half …

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