The Chinese satellites that are currently orbiting the Earth are already bright enough to blot out some views of the night sky. With reports revealing that future satellites will be even brighter than the existing ones, some astronomers are growing concerned. In addition to the increase in light pollution, some experts worry that the Chinese spacecraft’s brightness and relatively low orbit will interfere with radio astronomy.
The Chinese satellites that will be launched in the immediate future are said to be scheduled with an even lower altitude, greatly increasing their brightness in the night sky. Already visible to the naked eye from the Earth, the future pieces of Qianfan that will be sent into orbit could be one to two magnitudes brighter and effectively create the need for the amateur astronomer to make significant mitigations to the new levels of light.
