SpaceX and Reflect Orbital plans would 'permanently scar' night sky, researchers warn

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is alarmed by the threat to ground-based astronomy posed by proposals put forward by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Reflect Orbital. SpaceX has applied to launch one million satellites to act as data centers to power artificial intelligence, but brightness estimates show that thousands would be visible to the naked eye, many more than visible stars. On average, each image with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope would lose 10% of data due to satellite trails.