Hundreds of astronomers warn Elon Musk's Starlink satellites could limit scientific discoveries

Hundreds of astronomers have warned that satellite constellations like Elon Musk's Starlink network could prove "extremely impactful" to astronomy and scientific progress. A report by the Satellite Constellations 1 (Satcon1) workshop found that that constellations of bright satellites will fundamentally change ground-based optical and infrared astronomy and could impact the appearance of the night's sky for stargazers around the world. The research brought together more than 250 astronomers, satellite operators and dark-sky advocates to better understand the astronomical impact of large satellite constellations. "We find that the worst-case constellation designs prove extremely impactful to the most severely affected science programs," stated the report, which was published on Tuesday. Elon Musk's SpaceX plans to launch more than 30,000 Starlink satellites in order to beam high-speed internet down to Earth.