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China’s ‘Thousand Sails’ Joins Starlink as the Latest Mega-Satellite Constellation in Orbit

With ‘Thousand Sails,’ China joins the race to refill Low Earth Orbit with mega-satellite constellations.

It’s getting crowded up there in Low Earth orbit (LEO). By now, flocks of Starlinks have grow to be a well-recognized sight, and the bane of astrophotographers because the ‘vermin of the skies.’ Now, a number of new rivals have joined the fray, with extra ready within the wings.

Maybe, you’ve seen one in all these curious-looking ‘satellite tv for pc trains,’ and puzzled what they had been. Definitely, the arrival of satellite tv for pc trains courtesy of Starlink have added to the annals of purported UFO movies shot through smartphone throughout YouTube. Now, extra companies worldwide are moving into the sport in 2024, assuring that the subsequent ‘star’ you want on at nightfall could, actually, be a man-made satellite tv for pc.

Table of Contents

Approaching An Synthetic Sky

Streaks and trails as a result of growing variety of Starlinks in orbit have additionally grow to be an ordinary characteristic in trendy deep sky photographs. Whereas strategies to take away these have been pioneered by astrophotographers, these will proceed to influence deep sky astronomy. This influence extends to sky surveys quickly set to return on-line such because the Vera Rubin Observatory, set to see first mild early subsequent yr in 2025.

The primary batch of Thousand Sails satellites in orbit, shortly after launch. Credit score: Nick James.

SpaceX has implemented mitigation plans in response, together with use of solar visors on first era satellites, diffuse ‘dielectric mirror’ materials on newer Model 2 (V2) platforms, and angling photo voltaic arrays. These have seen some success. Definitely, spotters have famous that the brand new Model 2’s have a bluer tint, and appear to shine at magnitude +7 as soon as they’re boosted into their respective orbital slots. That is close to the +7 magnitude threshold called for by the Nationwide Science Basis (NSF) and the Worldwide Astronomical Union (IAU).

Radio noise from these new communications satellite tv for pc constellations can be a problem that astronomers now need to deal with. LOFAR (The Netherlands Institute for Astronomy’s Low Frequency Array) notes that “new observations with the LOFAR radio telescope…have proven that the second era ‘V2-mini’ Starlink satellites emit as much as 32 brighter unintended radio waves than satellites from the earlier era.”

Enter China’s ‘Thousand Sails’ Initiative

China additionally not too long ago joined the competitors in LEO, with the launch of a Lengthy March-6 rocket from Taiyuan Satellite tv for pc Launch Heart with 18 satellites for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite tv for pc Expertise (SSST). That is a part of the corporate’s ‘Thousand Sails’ initiative.

Dubbed China’s reply to Starlink, This may see an preliminary 1,296 satellites for the constellation positioned in orbit by 2027. The corporate additionally has plans to increase the community to 12,000 satellites into the 2030s. This primary batch went right into a polar (sun-synchronous) orbit, and the ensuing satellite tv for pc prepare was noticed in orbit shortly after launch.

1000 Sails — The Lengthy March 6A booster gas dump from the primary Thousand Sails deployment, shortly after launch. Credit score: Dan Bush/Missouri Skies.

And there’s extra in retailer. China additionally launched a Lengthy March 6 rocket on September 5^th, with 10 new satellites for Geely Group Automotive. These are a part of the corporate’s effort to construct a communication community for autonomous autos.

Geegly Group — An artist’s impression of Geely Group satellites in orbit. Credit score: Geely Group.

As a follow-on this month, China additionally launched a Lengthy March-6 rocket on October 15^th with one other batch of 18 satellites headed right into a polar orbit. This group can be a part of the Thousand Sails constellation. Satellite tv for pc spotters have already tracked these in orbit, with an estimated brightness of up the +4th magnitude when near the zenith on a visual move. Remember, China isn’t beholden to any obligations to mitigate the influence that satellite tv for pc constellations might need on the evening sky…nor do any formal worldwide requirements exist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUE0H0ZwaGY

Long March-6A launches SpaceSail Polar Orbit 02 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUE0H0ZwaGY)

Extra Mega Satellite tv for pc Constellations to Come

To not be outdone, SpaceX is placing up extra than simply Starlink. Final month, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket on September 12^th, with the primary five Bluebird satellites. These are ASTMobile’s follow-on to the BlueWalker-3 check satellite tv for pc, nonetheless in orbit. With a phased-array antenna 10-meters throughout when deployed, BlueWalker-3 reaches magnitude 0. The corporate plans to place 110 of those doubtlessly sensible Bluebirds in orbit over the subsequent few years.

BlueWalker 3 — A Bluewalker antenna unfolded on Earth. Credit score: ASTMobile.

OneWeb can be nonetheless placing satellites in orbit. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine War has compelled the corporate to forego Soyuz launches. As a substitute, OneWeb now depends on competitor SpaceX to get into orbit.

The OneWeb satellite tv for pc constellation presently hosts 660 satellites in orbit, proper across the preliminary goal quantity set by the corporate Eutelsat-OneWeb for nominal operation. The corporate started providing providers by means of residential suppliers final yr, together with Hughesnet, Viasat and mockingly, Starlink.

Starlink’s present standing is 7,125 satellites in orbit, with 23 extra deliberate tonight with the launch of Starlink Group 6-61 from the Cape. 12,000 satellites in orbit are deliberate for within the coming years, and the constellation may prolong to a complete of 34,400 satellites in future years.

To not be outdone, the Unites States’ Division of Protection is placing its personal devoted satellite tv for pc constellation in house. Dubbed Starshield, the community already has 73 satellites in orbit, and a complete of greater than a 100 are deliberate. As anticipated, the DoD is already shaping as much as be Starlink’s (and SpaceX’s) largest buyer.

Looking Satellite tv for pc Trains

Different shiny reflectors are making themselves seen within the evening sky as properly. ACS-3 (the Superior Composite Photo voltaic Sail System) was launched this previous April on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket. The mission efficiently unfurled this summer season on August 29^th. ACS-3 is the newest in a batch of satellites to aim to check photo voltaic sail applied sciences in orbit. Mission planners may use this tech on future missions for maneuvering, propulsion or reentry disposal. Earlier missions, together with NanoSail-D2 and Planetary Society’s Light Sail have struggled with this tech, demonstrating simply how tough it’s turning out to be.

ACS-3 is certainly tumbling: we’ve seen it flare as much as 0 magnitude (as shiny as Vega) on a very good move. This appears to be very angle dependent.

You possibly can monitor these missions and extra on Heavens-Above. The leaders for the primary two batches of respective Thousand Sail teams are 2024-140A and 2024-145A. Plus, Heavens-Above tracks Starlink batches (that are as soon as once more going up at a livid charge) on a devoted web page. We noticed essentially the most not too long ago launched Starlink Group Batch 8-19 this previous weekend… and that was from beneath the brilliant lights of downtown Bristol, Tennessee.

The Promise and Peril of Mega-Sat Constellations

To make certain, we’re an enormous shopper of roaming WiFi. If we will proceed our profession and on-line exploits from a distant basecamp, then that’s a very good factor… however there additionally must be oversight with regards to what we’re collectively doing to our evening sky as a useful resource.

Are we headed in direction of a future the place synthetic stars within the evening sky outnumber actual ones? Maybe, one of the best factor that newbie satellite tv for pc trackers can do now, is to chronicle what’s taking place, because the Anthropocene period leaves its mark on a courageous new evening sky.

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Sen. Padilla claps back after JD Vance calls him ‘Jose’: ‘He knows my name’

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Sen. Alex Padilla blasted the Trump administration Saturday, calling it “petty and unserious” after Vice President JD Vance referred to him as “Jose” throughout a information convention in Los Angeles yesterday.

“He is aware of my title,” Padilla stated in an look on MSNBC on Saturday morning.

Vance visited Los Angeles on Friday for lower than 5 hours after a number of weeks of federal immigration raids within the metropolis and surrounding areas, sparking protests and backlash from state and native officers.

Padilla was thrown into the heated nationwide immigration debate when he was dragged to the bottom by federal legislation enforcement officers and briefly detained when he tried to ask U.S. Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem a query throughout a information convention earlier this month.

Vance characterised the transfer by California’s first Latino senator as “political theater” in his remarks.

“I hoped Jose Padilla could be right here to ask a query, however sadly I assume he determined to not present up as a result of there wasn’t a theater, and that’s all it’s,” Vance stated.

Vance served alongside Padilla within the Senate and is now the president of the higher chamber of Congress. Vance’s press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, instructed Politico that the vice chairman misspoke and “should have combined up two individuals who have damaged the legislation.”

Padilla, in his TV interview, stated he broke no legal guidelines.

He recommended the misnaming was intentional — and a mirrored image of the administration’s skewed priorities.

“He’s the vice chairman of the USA.” Padilla stated. “You suppose he’d take the the scenario in Los Angeles extra significantly.”

Padilla stated Vance may as a substitute have taken the chance to speak to households or employers affected by raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Different California Democrats rallied behind Padilla after the misnaming incident.

“Calling him ‘Jose Padilla’ shouldn’t be an accident,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom stated in a Friday post on the social media platform X.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass highlighted racial undertones in Vance’s feedback.

“I assume he simply regarded like anyone to you, however he’s not simply anyone to us,” she said during a press conference on Friday. “He’s our senator.”

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Midwest Cities Bake as Heat Wave Blankets the Central U.S.

St. Louis, Chicago and Des Moines have been among the many cities that noticed warmth indexes hit triple digits on Saturday, with the East Coast bracing for related circumstances by Monday.

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Mahmoud Khalil arrives in New Jersey after release from ICE custody

Mahmoud Khalil has arrived in New Jersey after a federal decide ordered his release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention in Louisiana.

The Columbia College graduate and activist arrived on a flight to Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport on Saturday after spending months in ICE custody because the Trump administration fights to deport him.

“In the event that they threaten me with detention, even when they might kill me, I’d nonetheless converse up for Palestine,” he stated throughout a press convention after touchdown. “I simply wish to return and proceed the work I used to be already doing, advocating for Palestinian rights, a speech that ought to really be celebrated reasonably than punished.”

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was within the social gathering that met Khalil on the airport.

“As a result of Mahmoud Khalil is an advocate for Palestinian human rights, he has been accused baselessly of horrific allegations, just because the Trump administration and our total institution disagrees together with his political speech,” Ocasio-Cortez stated.

Khalil is a inexperienced card holder.

The Democratic congresswoman stated his detainment was a violation of his First Modification rights and “an affront to each American.”

Khalil launched after being detained by ICE for months

The Trump administration has been in search of Khalil’s deportation for his position in Columbia campus protests in opposition to Israel. He has not been charged with any crimes, however the administration says he ought to depart the nation resulting from actions it deems are aligned with Hamas.

“Trump and his administration, they selected the mistaken individual for this,” Khalil stated, addressing reporters after leaving the power on Friday to return to New York.

On Friday, U.S. District Choose Michael Fabiarz dominated Khalil is neither a risk to his group nor a flight threat. He known as Khalil’s detention “extremely uncommon” and the federal authorities’s actions “an effort to make use of the immigration cost to punish the petitioner” for his anti-Israel speech.

US Campus Protests Mahmoud Khalil — Mahmoud Khalil, an Algerian citizen and U.S. everlasting resident, heart, speaks after his launch from an ICE processing heart in Jena, La., Friday, June 20, 2025.

Matthew Hinton / AP

The federal government had stated in court docket papers that Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided that Khalil’s “presence or actions [in the United States] would compromise a compelling U.S. international coverage curiosity.”

Regardless of rejecting Rubio’s determination to proceed to carry Khalil on international coverage grounds, the decide left open a path for the federal government to proceed its effort to deport him for causes reminiscent of issues together with his inexperienced card utility.

In the end, the decide decided Khalil doesn’t should be detained whereas the deportation proceedings play out. He stated he wouldn’t order digital monitoring both.

Khalil’s arrest set off collection of protests

Khalil was arrested by federal immigration agents within the foyer of his Columbia-owned Manhattan condominium on March 8, setting off a series of protests and nationwide discussions over free speech.

Hours after his arrest, he was transferred to a detention heart in Jena, Louisiana, removed from his authorized staff and pregnant spouse. The federal government refused to launch him to attend the birth of his son.

Khalil’s arrest was the primary of a number of related incidents throughout the nation.

One other Columbia activist, Mohsen Mahdawi, who additionally has a green card, was arrested on April 14. Mahdawi was detained for allegedly posing a threat of “adversarial international coverage penalties.” He was released about two weeks later by a federal decide who dominated that he was doubtless being punished for protected speech. He graduated from Columbia after his launch.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts College graduate pupil, was released in May on the order of a federal decide after she was detained for greater than a month. Her attorneys stated she was taken into custody over to an op-ed she wrote for a campus newspaper.

Mark Prussin

contributed to this report.

Jesse Zanger

Jesse Zanger is the managing editor of CBSNewYork.com. Jesse has beforehand labored for the Fox Information Channel and Spectrum Information NY1. He covers regional information across the Tri-State Space, with a selected give attention to breaking information and excessive climate.