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ESO warns 1.7 M Satellites Could Devastate Astronomy

7/1/2026

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Summary

ESO Warns Satellites

ESO warns that launching over 1.7 million satellites would devastate astronomy.
The study caps safe satellites at 100 000 faint units below naked-eye visibility.
Fifty thousand Reflect Orbital satellites would make the sky three to four times brighter, each shining as bright as Venus, four times the full Moon.
VLT images could lose up to 28 % of field of view, making Rubin Observatory images unusable for several hours each night.

Summary

ESO Alerts

The FCC received over 1,800 comments on Reflect Orbital’s proposal and nearly 1,500 on SpaceX’s filings.
ESO official Betty Kioko said the agency now awaits the FCC’s ruling.
ESO Director Xavier Barcons and scientist Jean-Pierre Hainaut warned that mega-constellations threaten astronomy’s value and that bright satellites disrupt biological clocks, ecosystems and may affect health.
Low-Earth orbit already holds about 32,000 objects that new constellations would add to, worsening crowding.

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ESO Warns Satellites

ESO warns that launching over 1.7 million satellites would devastate astronomy.
The study caps safe satellites at 100 000 faint units below naked-eye visibility.
Fifty thousand Reflect Orbital satellites would make the sky three to four times brighter, each shining as bright as Venus, four times the full Moon.
VLT images could lose up to 28 % of field of view, making Rubin Observatory images unusable for several hours each night.

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