Since itslaunch in September , the BlueWalker 3 satellite has had anxious observer watching the skies in expectation of its full deployment . Now , the paradigm satellite has fully stretched out its massive regalia of antennas , importantly increasing its brightness and posing a threat to stargazer ’ views of the universe .
On Monday , AST SpaceMobileannouncedthe complete deployment of the communication array of its psychometric test satellite , unfurl its 693 - square - foot ( 64 - square - m ) feeler array in low Earth area . The regalia of antennas is the large - ever commercial communication raiment deployed in lowly Earth electron orbit , designed to beam down connectivity directly to people ’s phones .
The Texas - based company has been bragging about the size of its satellite , with Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile Abel Avellanboastingon Twitter , “ Made in TX — size matters ! ” when referring to BlueWalker 3 . But for astronomers gathering data point from the skies , it ’s nothing to brag about . With its feeler fully unfurled , the planet may be among the brightest objective in the nighttime sky , according to Sky and Telescope .
The BlueWalker 3 satellite deployed the largest commercial communications array in low Earth orbit.Gif: AST SpaceMobile/Gizmodo
Marco Langbroek , an astrodynamics lecturer at Delft Technical University in the Netherlands , has been tracking BlueWalker 3 since its launching . During overhead observations in September , the satellite had a luminosity magnitude of around +3.5 , make it seeable to the naked optic but not very bright . However , since the satellite deployed its antenna array , it has become significantly brighter .
“ Several former report by other observers from the past few twenty-four hour period indicate a pregnant brightening by about 2 magnitudes , ” Langbroek told Gizmodo in an electronic mail . “ That is about 6 metre brighter than before as one magnitude difference match a factor 2.512 in brightness . ”
“ One study during a very favorable zenith pass argue a peak cleverness at order of magnitude +2 to +1 , that is about as bright as the whiz of Orion , ” he added . Langbroek anticipates that the satellite could get even brighter since it only started to spread out recently , and the profile in the northern cerebral hemisphere at the bit is not ideal for astronomer to observe the satellite ’s brightness .
Astronomers have express concern that the orbiter could interfere with observations , appearing as a lustrous streak of light across telescope figure and saturating detector at observatory .
NSF ’s NOIRLab and the International Astronomical Union ’s ( IAU ) Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference have call on uranologist from around the populace to abide by the satellite and notice its cleverness magnitude as it revolve Earth . “ [ low-toned Earth orbit satellite ] disproportionately affect science programs that require twilight observations , such as search for Earth - threatening asteroids and comets , out Solar System object , and seeable - light counterparts of momentaneous gravitational - undulation sources , ” NSFwrotein a report .
On its own , BlueWalker 3 is declamatory enough to mess up with observation of the cosmos . However , the paradigm satellite is just a test to build an entire configuration of more than 100 satellites . AST SpaceMobile want to create the first and only space - found cellular broadband connection directly approachable by cell phones , commit more of its satellite to orbit by the end of 2024 .
Low Earth electron orbit is already filling up with commercial satellite . Elon Musk ’s SpaceX isbuilding an internet configuration in small Earth orbitwith plans to deploy upwards of 42,000 satellites . Amazon is also planning to launch a fleet of 3,236 satellites forProject Kuiper , while OneWeb want to launch 648 satellite .
More : Unique Constellation Will found Navigation Satellites to Low Earth Orbit
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