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Re:SpaceX Starlink is now its own ASN and present at the Sea... by jedberg on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @08:38PM (#23410954)
> The 60-satellite train should be visible in the sky over the SF bay area around 9:30 tomorrow night if the launch goes off as scheduled:

I thought they were redesigning the satellites to be nearly invisible from the ground so as not to disrupt astronomy? Or is that later launches?

Re:SpaceX Starlink is now its own ASN and present at the Sea... by modeless on Wednesday June 03, 2020 @08:46PM (#23411008)
They added sunshades which should make the satellites nearly invisible from the ground, but they are only effective once the satellites have assumed their final orientation and orbit. They start in a much lower orbit and will likely be very visible in the first few days after launch. Then they enter a phase of orbit raising during which they deliberately rotate to be less visible, though they can still sometimes be seen until they reach their destination several weeks later.