this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2023
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SpaceX wants new regulations regarding satellite brightness.
Their own satellites (at least the second generation ones) fulfill the requirements set by the astronomers at the Rubin Observatory, +7 mag (10x darker than the original ones). Meanwhile the satellites of the competitors OneWeb and Amazon can't fulfill them without major design changes, because the altitude the satellites orbit at makes a significant difference.
If the recommendations of the Rubin Observatory report were turned into regulations now, Starlink would barely be affected (they'd just have to stop the gen1 sat production a little early) while the competition would be set back several years.