Space telescopes under threat

Projected 560,000 satellites could overwhelm future observatories

- Jamie Middleton

An unprecedented surge in satellite launches is threatening space-based astronomy, with a new study warning that more than 96 per cent of images from space telescopes could be spoiled by satellites.

Published in Nature and led by NASA scientists, the study models how planned megaconstellations of low-Earth-orbit satellites will affect four telescopes: the Hubble Space Telescope and SPHEREx, plus ESA's ARRAKIHS and China's Xuntian, currently both still in development.