Plymouth people were left amazed – and confused – by a line of lights in the sky last night. While many were wondering what was going on, others quickly realised it was Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites.
On Saturday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX company – which began launching Starlink spacecraft in 2019 – carried out two launches carrying a total of 44 satellites. The large-scale program aims to provide high-speed internet almost everywhere in the world, for those who wish to pay for it. Starlink uses a web of satellites in Earth orbit, around 550kms from the surface.
The program has regularly hit the international headlines since 2022 when it was used to bring internet access to Ukraine following the invasion by Russia – although it has since been revealed that Musk’s firm has refused to allow Starlink to support Ukrainian offences to attack Russian forces in the contested/occupied Crimea region.
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Sunday night’s train of satellites left people across the region suitably agog. One email sent to PlymouthLive – with the caption «UFO» – noted that while out on a walk at around 7.30pm a local and her friend «witnessed a long line of flashing lights moving at a very fast speed in the sky».
(Image: Charlotte Willis)
Although some in Plymouth, like Charlotte Willis, were fully aware that the lights were actually Starlink satellites and forwarded PlymouthLive these images.
The Find Starlink website states they were most visible at 7.45pm last night from west to north east for around five minutes and it is likely they will still be visible over the coming days.
Once the satellites climb to their operating altitude they disperse and are far more difficult to differentiate against the backdrop of stars, making them less visible as time goes on.
Starlink has been available in the UK since 2021. According to Starlink’s coverage map, the whole of mainland UK can receive its internet signal, as can the vast majority of areas in Europe.
At the time of writing, the Starlink website suggests there’s a two- to three-week wait for delivery. However, you can also order the service without hardware and buy the kit from places like John Lewis or B&Q.
A standard Starlink satellite antenna and wifi router will set you back around £450 at Currys while a ‘High Performance’ set up will cost your around £2,400. Then on top of that you have to pay the data subscription package – Standard costs £75 a month, Priority is £180 a month.
US regulators blocked SpaceX plans to launch a further 30,000 satellites, but the FCC did grant approval for the company to launch up to 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites in December 2022.
With so many satellites orbiting the Earth there have recently been calls to ban light-polluting mass satellite groups like Starlink. Astronomers and star-watchers have lamented how the low-altitude lights are filling up the sky at night, ruining the views and study of the heavens. Some have called for a cap on the number of satellites in low orbits.
Another less-than-welcome side effect of the chain of satellites orbiting the earth has been the constant stream of people pointing and screaming «aliens», fearing that the Men from Mars have finally come to begin the War of the Worlds, as per H G Well’s fictional tale. Local papers across the world report how amazed – and frightened – Terrans have written and texted in asking what the strange lights are in the sky and people in the South West are no different.
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