AST SpaceMobile's controversial #Bluewalker 3 #satellite has been #orbiting #Earth and communicating with ground stations for nearly a month. It is stable, following the correct orbit, and taking great pictures of the #planet below:

Now for the next step: Unfurling its enormous antenna. This could happen little more than a week from now.

Designed to supply 4G cell phone signals from space, Bluewalker 3's antenna is huge, 64 square meters or the size of a squash court. This flat surface orbiting 500 kilometers above Earth will reflect a lot of sunlight, which could make the satellite extremely visible to observers on the ground. Flares from Bluewalker 3 might even be brighter than Venus, outshining everything in the night sky except the Moon.

While this is only a single satellite for now, AST SpaceMobile plans to launch more than 100 larger satellites called BlueBirds. Doubling the size of BlueWalker 3, the Bluebirds would appear even brighter in the sky
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QUIET SUN--CONTINUED: For the third day in a row, solar activity is low. The solar disk is peppered with sunspots, but all of them have stable magnetic fields unlikely to explode. NOAA forecasters say there is a 5% chance of M-class flares and no more than a 1% chance of X-flares on Sept. 10th. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.

SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED ABOUT #BLUEWALKER 3? Later today, SpaceX will launch an unusual satellite: BlueWalker 3. Designed to supply 4G cell phone signals from space, Bluewalker 3 will unfurl a large antenna spanning 64 square meters--the size of a squash court:

This flat surface orbiting 500 kilometers above #Earth will reflect a lot of sunlight, which could make the satellite extremely visible to observers on the ground. It could become #brighter than the #planet #Venus, outshining everything in the night sky except the #Moon.

While this is only a single satellite for now, Bluewalker's maker AST SpaceMobile plans to launch more than 100 larger satellites called BlueBirds. These satellites, which could be more than twice the size of BlueWalker 3, would appear even brighter in the sky.

For astronomers, the satellites could create bright streaks across images from ground-based telescope, potentially making them unusable for observing more distant objects.

Should we be concerned? Maybe. First let's see how bright Bluewalker 3 actually is. It is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral on Sept 10th between 9:10 p.m. to 9:20 p.m. EDT. A batch of 34 #Starlink #satellites will share the ride.