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  • NEWS FEATURE

Swarms of satellites are harming astronomy. Here’s how researchers are fighting back

SpaceX and other companies plan to launch tens of thousands of satellites, which could mar astronomical observations and pollute the atmosphere.
By
  1. Alexandra Witze
Satellite light trails cross the sky above the Pinnacles, two monolithic stones in Western Australia.

Satellite streaks appear in a photograph taken above the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park, Western Australia. Credit: Joshua Rozells

In the next few months, from its perch atop a mountain in Chile, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will begin surveying the cosmos with the largest camera ever built. Every three nights, it will produce a map of the entire southern sky filled with stars, galaxies, asteroids and supernovae — and swarms of bright satellites ruining some of the view.

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Nature 639, 564-566 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00792-y

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