Table 1.
Constellations used in this study; it is meant to provide a representative sample.
| Constellation | a⊙ | Satellites | Satellites | Magnitude at | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alt. | for | above horizon | above zmax = 60° | Orbital | zenith | z = 60° | ||||||
| zenith | period | |||||||||||
| N | h | γo | a⊙ | % | N | a⊙ | % | N | P | |||
| [km] | [deg] | [deg] | [deg] | [h] | [mag] | [mag] | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| SpaceX Starlink | ||||||||||||
| 340 | 7518 | 340 | −18.3 | −36.6 | 2.5% | 190.3 | −23.0 | 0.2% | 12.6 | 1.51 | 3.2 | 4.8 |
| 550 | 1600 | 550 | −23.0 | −46.0 | 4.0% | 63.5 | −30.1 | 0.4% | 6.2 | 1.58 | 4.2 | 5.9 |
| 1150 | 2800 | 1150 | −32.1 | −64.2 | 7.6% | 214.0 | −44.9 | 1.2% | 34.8 | 1.79 | 5.8 | 7.5 |
| OneWeb | 648 | 1200 | −32.7 | −65.4 | 7.9% | 51.3 | −45.9 | 1.3% | 8.6 | 1.81 | 5.9 | 7.5 |
| Amazon Kuiper | ||||||||||||
| 590 | 784 | 590 | −23.8 | −47.5 | 4.2% | 33.2 | −31.3 | 0.4% | 3.4 | 1.60 | 4.4 | 6.0 |
| 610 | 1296 | 610 | −24.1 | −48.2 | 4.4% | 56.6 | −31.9 | 0.5% | 6.0 | 1.60 | 4.5 | 6.1 |
| 630 | 1156 | 630 | −24.5 | −49.0 | 4.5% | 52.0 | −32.5 | 0.5% | 5.6 | 1.61 | 4.5 | 6.1 |
| Sat Revolution | 1024 | 350 | −18.6 | −37.1 | 2.6% | 26.6 | −23.4 | 0.2% | 1.8 | 1.52 | 3.2 | 4.9 |
| China CASC | 320 | 1100 | −31.5 | −63.0 | 7.4% | 23.5 | −43.9 | 1.2% | 3.7 | 1.78 | 5.7 | 7.4 |
| China LuckyStar | 156 | 1000 | −30.2 | −60.4 | 6.8% | 10.6 | −41.7 | 1.0% | 1.6 | 1.74 | 5.5 | 7.2 |
| China Commsat | 800 | 600 | −23.9 | −47.9 | 4.3% | 34.4 | −31.6 | 0.4% | 3.6 | 1.60 | 4.4 | 6.0 |
| China Xinwei | 32 | 600 | −23.9 | −47.9 | 4.3% | 1.4 | −31.6 | 0.4% | 0.1 | 1.60 | 4.4 | 6.0 |
| India AstroTech | 600 | 1400 | −34.9 | −69.8 | 9.0% | 54.0 | −49.7 | 1.6% | 9.9 | 1.88 | 6.3 | 7.9 |
| Boing | 2956 | 1030 | −30.6 | −61.2 | 7.0% | 205.6 | −42.4 | 1.1% | 31.2 | 1.75 | 5.6 | 7.2 |
| LeoSat | 108 | 1423 | −35.2 | −70.3 | 9.1% | 9.9 | −50.1 | 1.7% | 1.8 | 1.89 | 6.3 | 7.9 |
| Samsung | 4700 | 2000 | −40.4 | −80.9 | 11.9% | 561.2 | −59.2 | 2.7% | 124.8 | 2.11 | 7.0 | 8.7 |
| Yaliny | 135 | 600 | −23.9 | −47.9 | 4.3% | 5.8 | −31.6 | 0.4% | 0.6 | 1.60 | 4.4 | 6.0 |
| Telesat LEO | 117 | 1000 | −30.2 | −60.4 | 6.8% | 7.9 | −41.7 | 1.0% | 1.2 | 1.74 | 5.5 | 7.2 |
| (Iridium) | 66 | 780 | −27.0 | −54.0 | 5.5% | 3.6 | −36.5 | 0.7% | 0.5 | 1.66 | 5.0 | 6.6 |
| Total | 26 750 | 1605 | 258 | |||||||||
Notes. The list includes the number of satellites (Col. 1) and their altitude in km (Col. 2). Column 3 is the elevation of the Sun for which a satellite at Zenith is just illuminated, also for which half the satellites in range are illuminated; by construction, it is also the angle Zenith-Centre of Earth-Satellite at which the satellite is on the horizon. Considering the cases of satellites above the horizon and above a zenithal distance of 60°, the table also lists the minimum solar elevation required to illuminate all these satellites (Cols. 4 and 7); the fraction of the constellation that is in range (Cols. 5 and 8) and the corresponding number of satellites in range (Cols. 6 and 9). For reference, the orbital period is listed (Col. 10), as well as the magnitude of a satellite at zenith (Col. 11) and at z = 60° (Col. 12), for an intermediate solar phase angle of 90°, considering our simple photometric model.
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