Astronomers have long been captivated by sparkling celestial objects in the night sky. But this peaceful vision is now under threat.

A handful of companies are racing to launch huge constellations of satellites into low Earth orbit. Their goal is to provide high-speed Internet access across the globe. But these megaconstellations come at a cost.

One of these companies, AST SpaceMobile, recently deployed its first five satellites (BlueBirds 1-5).

These satellites are equipped with huge antenna arrays, designed to deliver cellular service directly to smartphones. The network covers a significant area of ​​693 square feet (64 square meters).

However, these arrays also increase the brightness of satellites, which could interfere with astronomical observations of faint celestial objects.

“The deployment of our first five commercial BlueBird satellites marks only the beginning of our journey,” Abel Avellan, founder and CEO of AST SpaceMobile, said in a statement. press release.

“Our team is already hard at work building the next generation of satellites, which will offer ten times the capacity of our current BlueBirds, further transforming mobile connectivity and delivering even greater benefits to our customers and partners around the world ” added Avellan.

The question of satellite prototypes

AST SpaceMobile rose to prominence with the launch of its largest communications satellite prototype BlueWalker 3 in 2023. This satellite orbits at an altitude between 316 and 327 miles (508 and 527 kilometers) above the surface of the planet.

In September 2023, the company made the first-ever 5G phone call between a satellite prototype and a standard smartphone.

The researchers conducted a 130-day observation which showed that BlueWalker 3 is one of the brightest objects in the night sky.

They saw that its enormous antenna was brighter than almost everything in the sky except the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, and a few very bright stars.

“BlueWalker 3 is equipped with a 64.3 m2 phased array antenna as well as a launcher adapter (LVA)5. The maximum brightness of the satellite reached an apparent magnitude of 0.4. This made the new satellite one of the brightest objects in the night sky,” the 2023 study notes.

AST SpaceMobile launched five additional satellites, known as BlueBird satellites, on September 12.

The company plans to build a constellation of more than 100 satellites to establish a national cellular network across the United States.

The recent Chinese constellation has raised similar issues

Meanwhile, the new broadband constellation also has a significant impact on astronomical observations.

China launched its first Qianfan satellites in August, and initial observations show they are much brighter than astronomical authorities recommend.

The planned Qianfan network is designed to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation in providing high-speed internet service on a global scale.

The latest constellation highlights the growing problem of satellite congestion in Earth’s orbit.

According to Gizmodo, the number of large satellites has quintupled in 12 years, causing growing concern.

It appears that a team of space experts has sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

“Experts from top universities warn that we are in a short window of time where we can avoid littering space and our atmosphere rather than spending decades cleaning it up. The new space race does not need to create enormous space waste,” Lucas Gutterman, director of the US PIRG Education Fund’s Designed to Last campaign, said in the letter.

AST SpaceMobile isn’t the only company working on deploying mega-constellations.

SpaceX is actively building its Starlink constellation, which currently includes more than 6,000 satellites orbiting Earth. Additionally, Amazon, OneWeb and Lynk Global are also pursuing their own mega-constellation projects.