STARLINK SATELLITES ARE TURNING BLUE: When SpaceX first started launching Starlink satellites in 2019, astronomers saw red. Now they're seeing blue. "Recently, a number of people have reported sightings of blue satellites," says Croatian astronomer Marko Posavec. "On the night of Aug. 11th, while observing the Perseids, I captured an entire series of them." "It was Starlink group G9-1, launched in June," says Posavec. "These are DTC (Direct to Cell) satellites. Apparently, the material they're using to try to reduce brightness also gives them a blue color, for which SpaceX says is 'not unexpected.' The color is visible to the naked eye." DTC satellites are SpaceX's attempt to create "a cell tower in space." The first batch of six was launched in Jan. 2024, and now there are 129 DTCs in orbit. According to a recent study, on average they shine nearly five times brighter in the sky than earlier Starlinks. The extra brightness is a probable result of their larger antennas and lower altitudes. This image combines brightness data from the IAU Centre for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Skies with a recent blue streak photo from amateur astronomer Paolo Palma in Rieti, Italy: The inset plot shows DTC satellite magnitudes peaking at +5, which is barely visible to the unaided eye. However, the dispersion is large, and some are brighter than 1st magnitude stars. Earlier this year, SpaceX requested an amendment to their license with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission allowing them to operate up to 7,500 DTCs orbiting at heights near 350 km. If that plan comes to fruition, there might soon be many more blue streaks in the night sky.
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