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COOL! The spicy article I wrote about satellite pollution is FINALLY published! "Bright satellites are disrupting astronomy research worldwide" in Nature News & Views.

This article required weeks of back-and-forth with the editor, the editor-in-chief, and Nature's lawyers, so I hope that means it's a good one.

During this process, I learned that satellite companies are so powerful and litigious that even giant publishers like Nature are terrified of getting sued. Which is...rather worrying.

Paywalled article here, I'll share once I have a non-paywalled link (hopefully soon): nature.com/articles/d41586-023

The summary: astronomers spent a lot of time asking SpaceX and other large satellite operators to pretty please make their satellites fainter and/or use fewer satellites. And then BlueWalker 3 was launched by some tiny company and is one of the brightest things in the sky. Asking nicely isn't working: international regulation and pollution penalties are needed.

www.nature.comBright satellites are disrupting astronomy research worldwideBlueWalker 3 satellite outshines most visible stars.

@2ndStar@astronomy.social

The summary:

"astronomers spent a lot of time asking SpaceX and other large satellite operators to pretty please make their satellites fainter and/or use fewer satellites..."

mastodon.social/@sundogplanets

HistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴

For those wondering about 's unprecedented power in satellites 🛰 and mobile internet-based communications, here is the background story again (via ):

mastodon.social/@HistoPol/1111

...and what this means for his grip on the ' and other national governments (via ):

mastodon.social/@HistoPol/1110

@2ndStar
@sundogplanets
@noondlyt