All you need to know about TONIGHTS Starlink Satellite ???? pass!
Tonight at 9.55pm, if skies remain clear, which they should do, you should be able to witness a very bright passing of the Starlink Satellites overhead, moving in a west to east direction across the night sky. You may also catch the odd shooting star ???? whilst looking at the stars tonight. This is due to the Lyrid Meteor Shower that peaks this week. The starlink satellites will remain in the sky for approximately 20 minutes.
All you’ll need to see the Starlink Satellites is a clear sky and your eyes! How cool is that? ????
What are the Starlink Satellites is your next question? Well…. ????
Starlink is the name of a satellite network that the private spaceflight company SpaceX is developing to provide low-cost internet to remote locations. While SpaceX eventually hopes to have as many as 12,000 satellites in this so-called megaconstellation, the size and scale of the project have flustered astronomers and amateur skywatchers, who fear that the bright, orbiting objects will interfere with observations of the universe.
The initial plan
SpaceX’s satellite internet proposal was announced in January 2015. Though it wasn’t given a name at the time, CEO Elon Musk said that the company had filed documents with international regulators to place about 4,000 satellites in low Earth orbit.
“We’re really talking about something which is, in the long term, like rebuilding the internet in space,” Musk said during a speech in Seattle when revealing the project.
Musk’s initial estimate of the number of satellites soon grew, as he hoped to capture a part of the estimated $1 trillion worldwide internet connectivity market to help achieve his Mars colonization vision. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted SpaceX permission to fly 12,000 satellites and perhaps as many as 30,000 eventually.
To put that into perspective, only about 2,000 artificial satellites currently orbit Earth, and only 9,000 have ever been launched in all of history, according to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.
SpaceX launched its first two Starlink test craft, named TinTinA and TinTinB, in 2018. The mission went smoothly. Based on initial data, the company asked regulators for its fleet to be allowed to operate at lower altitudes than originally planned, and the FCC agreed.
You can view the starlink satellites in real time by visiting https://findstarlink.com
