Elon Musk’s SpaceX has sent a further 57 Starlink satellites into Earth’s orbit as the company ups the ante in its bid to provide internet services to every corner of the globe. There are now almost 600 of the miniature satellites in orbit, and many on the ground are able to spot them with the naked eye.
When will the satellites be visible over the UK?
SpaceX’s Starlink fleet will be able to be seen in the dead of night, travelling in a west to east direction over the UK at 3.59 AM on August 8.
Website Find Starlink does say the satellites will pass overhead on August 8 at 2.26am, although it adds that conditions will be cloudy, making the fleet extremely hard to see.
The following night on August 9, UK residents will be able to see the fleet twice in quick succession.
First at 3.05am and then at 4.39am, both times travelling from west to east again.
Starlink is SpaceX’s ambitious yet controversial plans to launch 12,000 satellites into Earth’s orbit, with the aim being to supply internet to every corner of the globe.
The first of the 12,000 satellites were launched in May 2019, and month by month Elon Musk’s firm has steadily been increasing its numbers in the skies.
The plans were met with criticism from astronomers, who claimed satellite constellations were obscuring the view of the cosmos.
However, this has not deterred SpaceX nor indeed its potential customers, with Mr Musk’s company asking for permission to deploy five million Starlink user terminals – four million more people than the company had planned for – after a surge in interest.
SpaceX has now applied to the FCC to increase its licence.
The company told the FCC in a license-change request: “SpaceX Services requests this increase in authorized units due to the extraordinary demand for access to the Starlink non-geostationary orbit satellite system.
“Despite the fact that SpaceX has yet to formally advertise this system’s services, nearly 700,000 individuals represented in all 50 states signed up over a matter of just days to register their interest in said services at www.starlink.com.
“To ensure that SpaceX is able to accommodate the apparent demand for its broadband Internet access service, SpaceX Services requests a substantial increase in the number of authorized units.”