Have you ever thought that internet connectivity could be obtained from space, and do you know that satellites could be so bright that it could change how a natural day looks? We might not be familiar with all these things but everything is happening around us and who knows within a few days you could be trading in some part of the globe using space technology.
All the things mentioned above is possible because Last month, SpaceX successfully launched 60 500-pound satellites into space. Here let us understand the motive of releasing such a huge number of satellites and its consequences.
The motive
The main target of SpaceX is to obtain worldwide internet connectivity with the help of space satellites. And for that reason, SpaceX has released its first batch of 60 Starlink satellites in the space. They want to construct a constellation named as the “Starlink” that would provide worldwide connectivity.
The 60 released Starlink satellites have been orbiting Earth for about a week. And now SpaceX has released a status update on the mission. According to a spokesperson, “all 60 satellites have deployed their solar arrays successfully, generated positive power and communicated with our ground stations.”
The satellites
The Starlink satellites launch was one of SpaceX’s most ambitious missions to orbit. The satellites contain individual solar panels that store sunlight and along with it reflects the light to the Earth. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and chief executive, has offered assurances that the satellites will only be visible in the hours after sunset and before sunrise, and then it will be just barely visible.
ConsequencesÂ
Although Elon Musk has assured about the consequences and that it will not have any adverse effect. The astronauts and scientists have a very different opinion from that of Elon Musk. The early images of the satellites made the scientists come with many questions.
The main thing that concerned the scientist was that the satellites were too bright and releasing such a huge number of bright satellites in the sky could overpower the natural light. The first captured images, for example, revealed a train of spacecraft as bright as Polaris, the North Star. Even though a press officer at SpaceX said the satellites will grow fainter as they move to higher orbits, some astronomers estimate that they will be visible to the naked eye throughout summer nights.
Conclusion
Since the satellites released by SpaceX will be used for achieving global internet connectivity it would lead to greater business opportunities for various firms and will help in the development of untouched areas. Other companies, such as Amazon, Telesat, and OneWeb, want to get into the space internet business. Their ambitions to make satellites nearly as plentiful as cellphone towers highlight conflicting debates. Which are as old as the space age about the proper use of the final frontier.
