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.

For people who previously used SMS and had their contacts saved in the phone’s pre-installed contact app, WhatsApp could use all those contacts out of the box.

The bright line is Starlink satellites immediately after deployment.

Starlink satellites do have stealth features to make them less bright, but those are only active in normal operational mode. Immediately after deployment and while dodging space debris, they are more visible.

Really big map, mostly empty

Because SpaceX satellites are coated in special reflective materials to reduce brightness. That requires the satellite to be oriented the right way to reflect the light from the sun away from the planet, so it only reduces brightness of the satellites in the operational orbit. Satellites immediately after deployment are far more visible.

Update: Seems to be back up!

It’s just the site, 3rd party apps still work lol…

Edit: Partially. RIF works on r/all, but not the home page.