The BlueWalker 3 satellite has become one of the brightest objects in the night sky, which adds to ongoing concerns about the increasing challenges that ground-based astronomy faces as more bright satellites are launched into low Earth orbits.

According to observations published in Nature on Tuesday, BlueWalker 3, a prototype communications satellite that was launched on September 10, 2022, has a 64.3-m2 array, which represents a large surface area for reflecting sunlight.

When fully deployed, the 8x8 meter satellite shines at the same intensity as Procyon, the eighth-brightest star in the night sky, said the research by the University of Canterbury and the University of Auckland, which also includes observations from Mt John Observatory in New Zealand.

BlueWalker 3, developed by AST SpaceMobile in the United States, also periodically becomes hundreds of times brighter than international recommendations, and the study authors said these bright spots could hinder astronomers' efforts to monitor space from Earth.

Artificial satellites orbiting the Earth can appear as bright objects, as they reflect sunlight. Although satellite operators, astronomers and other users of the night sky are working on brightness mitigation strategies, the increasing number of satellites may impede efforts to perform Earth-based observations of space, the authors said.

To determine the effect of BlueWalker 3, an international observing campaign was conducted using both amateur and professional observations made from Chile, the United States, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Morocco.

The authors recommended that the critical evaluation of the effect of satellites on the space and Earth environments should be a part of launching authorization processes.