SPECTACULAR view it was!
You've never seen a night sky sight quite like this.
It's been one day since SpaceX launched its first 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit, and a skywatching sleuth has already spotted them soaring across the night sky. Netherlands-based satellite tracker Marco Langbroek stunned space fans tonight (May 24) with this jaw-dropping video of dozens of Starlink satellites soaring overhead.
"Here is the video I shot, be prepared to be mind-blown!" Langbroek wrote on his website SatTrackCam Leiden Blog, where he shared the video. He counted at least 56 objects as the satellites flew overhead.
A train of SpaceX Starlink satellites are visible in the night sky in this still from a video captured by satellite tracker Marco Langbroek in Leiden,
the Netherlands on May 24, 2019, just one day after SpaceX launched 60
of the Starlink internet communications satellites into orbit.
(Image: © Marco Langbroek via SatTrackBlog)
SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk hinted on Twitter today that the satellites are doing well. "So far, so good," he wrote.
Langbroek said he used the knowledge of SpaceX's deployment altitude and target orbital inclination (the angle of the orbit with respect to the equator) to estimate where the satellites would appear in Friday night's sky.
"My search orbit turned out to be not too bad: very close in sky track, and with the objects passing some 3 minutes early on the predictions," he wrote on his website. "And what a SPECTACULAR view it was!"
He used a WATEC 902H low-light-level surveillance camera equipped with a Canon FD 1.8/50 mm lens to capture the view.
A
view of SpaceX's first 60 Starlink satellites in orbit, still in
stacked configuration, with the Earth as a brilliant blue backdrop on
May 23, 2019.
(Image: © SpaceX)
We'd shout "Owowowow!" too.
After all, it's not every day you can see a fleet of small satellites passing overhead at the same time. And according to Langbroek, this sight won't last.
"Over the coming days the 'train' of objects will be making 2-3 passes each night," he wrote on his website. "As they are actively manoeuvering with their ion thrusters, they will be more spread out with each pass, so the 'train' will probably quickly dissipate."
Each Starlink satellite is equipped with Krypton ion thrusters to adjust its orbit. They'll use those thrusters to spread apart over time.
"Krypton thrusters operative, satellites initiating orbit raise every 90 mins," Musk wrote in a Twitter update today.
SpaceX is building its Starlink megaconstellation to provide affordable internet access to people around the world. The spaceflight company aims to launch 12,000 satellites in all for the constellation. At least 400 satellites are needed for "minor" coverage and 800 for "moderate" coverage, Musk has said.
For comparison: There are only about 2,000 operational spacecraft in Earth orbit today. The sheer number of Starlink satellites planned by SpaceX is staggering, according to Langbroek.
"I do worry a bit what this will do to the night sky when there are thousands of them," he told Space.com. "I wonder if SpaceX has realised how bright they are. Of course they will manoeuvre some 100 km higher, but still, they are bright."
SpaceX isn't alone in its pursuit of a massive fleet of communications satellites in orbit. Similar megaconstellations are being developed by companies such as OneWeb, Telesat and Amazon.
Editor's note: If you snap an amazing photo of SpaceX's Starlink satellites in orbit and would like to share them for a story or photo gallery, send images and comments to spacephotos@space.com!
TLE date May 25, 2019
STARLINK - 44235U 1 44235U 19029A 19146.23811933 .00001584 00000-0 45153-4 0 9990 2 44235 53.0009 165.1862 0006365 272.1524 87.8751 15.42688051 1556 STARLINK - 44236U 1 44236U 19029B 19146.23794529 .00001625 00000-0 45907-4 0 9995 2 44236 53.0007 165.1834 0005819 272.7499 87.2839 15.42817023 1558 STARLINK - 44237U 1 44237U 19029C 19146.23807623 .00001595 00000-0 45357-4 0 9991 2 44237 53.0009 165.1850 0006247 272.3109 87.7179 15.42720938 446
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