“Our objectives, generally, are to make the satellites invisible to the naked eye within a week, and to minimize the impact on astronomy, especially so that we do not saturate observatory detectors and inhibit discoveries,” Musk said.
Previously, SpaceX discussed plans to use a dark paint to cut down on satellite visibility, then shared the idea of a “patio umbrella”-like shade. The new plan is based on “sun visors” that Musk has described on Twitter, with a design to block light.
It’s made of a special dark foam that’s extremely radio transparent, so as not to affect the phased array antennas. Looks a lot like a car sun visor.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2020
“We have a radio-transparent foam that will deploy nearly upon the satellite being released, and it blocks the sun from reaching the antennas,” Musk said, according to a report from Space News. “They’re sun visors, essentially: they flip out and block the sun and prevent reflections.”
The VisorSat system will be tested on the next round of satellites to be launched and says that they’ll have a “massive effect” on the amount of light that will be visible.
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