BlueWalker 3, an enormous and bright communications satellite, is genuinely alarming astronomers
The night sky is a shared wilderness. On a dark night, away from the city lights, you can see the stars in the same way as your ancestors did centuries ago. You can see the Milky Way and the constellations associated with stories of mythical hunters, sisters and journeys.
But like any wilderness, the night sky can be polluted. Since Sputnik 1 in 1957, thousands of satellites and pieces of space junk have been launched into orbit.
For now, satellites crossing the night sky are largely a curiosity. But with the advent of satellite constellations—containing hundreds or thousands of satellites—this could change.
The recent launch of BlueWalker 3, a prototype for a satellite constellation, raises the prospect of bright satellites contaminating our night skies. At 64 square meters, it's the largest commercial communications satellite in low Earth orbit—and very bright.
Pollution of the night sky
Extraterrestrial signal search is underway using the southern hemisphere's biggest radio telescope
Breakthrough Listen has begun observations using a powerful new instrument deployed to the MeerKAT radio telescope in the remote Karoo region of South Africa. The new search for technosignatures - indicators of technology developed by extraterrestrial intelligence - expands the number of targets searched by a factor of 1,000.
The astronomers and engineers on the Breakthrough Listen team ha NASA's Orion capsule performs burn to leave distant retrograde orbit
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The post Rocket Lab launches subsidiary focused on national security market appeared first on SpaceNews.
Eutelsat orders GEO broadband satellite with LEO in mind
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The post Eutelsat orders GEO broadband satellite with LEO in mind appeared first on SpaceNews.
Southern hemisphere's biggest radio telescope begins search for ET signatures
Breakthrough Listen has begun observations using a powerful new instrument deployed to the MeerKAT radio telescope in the remote Karoo region of South Africa. The new search for technosignatures - indicators of technology developed by extraterrestrial intelligence - expands the number of targets searched by a factor of 1,000.
The astronomers and engineers on the Breakthrough Listen team ha 
