Starlink v2 reached the brightness reduction target recommended by astronomers
Starlink v2 reached the brightness reduction target recommended by astronomers
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That's great to hear! Is this with the shades and paint, or something else?
Pretty sure it's in-house developed black paint.
Black paint was causing heat problems.
Sounds like it's more about orientation:
SpaceX has responded to the concerns of astronomers by developing an improved reflective layer for their Gen 2 satellites which directs more of the sunlight away from observers on the ground.
Looks like it is more about the shade. I also wonder if they are able to have a small yaw axis law around the time it is a problem to reduce the reflection on the solar panel, which is hard to shade. That's a reduced power budget but it may be worth it, the solar panels and batteries they are using are quite cheap.
Cool!
Mirror film. The antenna have a highly reflective film coating that reflects all light from the sun in a specific direction in space, away from Earth. The parts of the satellite that aren't flat enough for the mirror film do use the dark paint.