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As of July 2021, there are over 1 Starlink satellites in space. Some of them fly over the territory of our country. We tell you what services you can use to track the flight of devices over your city
What is the Starlink system and how to connect to it
Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites provide high-speed internet connectivity. The goal of the project is to create a global network that will cover the entire Earth. Then stable broadband Internet will be available all over the world, even where there is no cellular connection – in remote settlements, forests, mountains. The more satellites fly over you, the better the quality of the connection.
In February 2021, Musk stated on his Twitter that he plans to achieve a stable connection quality of 300 Mbps. In May of the same year, a Starlink user recorded an internet speed of 540 Mbps. As of June 2021, the average broadband Internet speed from other providers in the US is 195 Mbps, in our country – 88 Mbps.
In July 2021, Starlink is at the testing stage – anyone will not be able to connect to the system yet. You need to apply and wait for its approval, then buy a signal reception kit for $499 and pay a monthly subscription for $99.
But you can already watch satellites now – they can be seen at night. It looks spectacular: bright luminous dots move in the sky one after another.
How to track the flight of a satellite through a computer
Findstarlink.com
Find Starlink is an English-language service from anonymous developers that predicts exactly when a satellite will be visible over the next five days. Enter your country and city (or exact coordinates), then click on the Find Visible Times button.
A list of satellites will appear, divided into three groups:
- with good visibility (good visibility);
- with average visibility (average visibility);
- with poor visibility.
For each device are listed:
- his number;
- local date, time and period when the satellite will be visible – errors of about 10 minutes are possible;
- brightness indicator (dim) – the smaller the number, the better the device is visible in the sky;
- direction of movement (look) – for example, from southwest to east;
- height above the horizon in degrees – at the beginning and at the end of the observation, as well as the maximum value. Most Starlink satellites are located at an altitude of 10º at the beginning of the observation. If you stretch out your hand and place your fist on the horizon, the Starlink device will be approximately where your knuckles are.
On the 2D map, you can observe Starlink devices in real time. Satellites do not move singly, but in groups of 30-40 devices. But the site shows only the first device from each series, so as not to overload the system. The developers warn that the data may be inaccurate, as the movement paths often change.
Best of all, in the night sky you can see devices that launched three to four days ago or a little earlier. At this time, they rise to orbit and are at a certain angle to the Earth and the Sun, so they reflect light most brightly. The principle of operation of satellites is described in more detail on the SpaceX website. **
In 2020, astronomers told Elon Musk that Starlink devices reflect light too brightly and prevent scientists from observing space bodies. The SpaceX founder responded on Twitter that the company is working on making satellites invisible in the sky.
Satflare.com
The English site satflare.com shows what the Earth looks like from the ISS orbit. Here you can also see the movement of satellites from SpaceX in real time on 2D and 3D maps.
- Log in to the site or log in as a guest by pressing Enter without Login.
- Go to the Starlink Trains section and select which series of satellites you want to watch. For example, Starlink 1 launched on May 24, 2019, and Starlink 24 launched on March 24, 2021. You can choose to watch all series.
- Set your location.
The first way: click on the Set Your Location button, enter your coordinates and altitude in meters above sea level.
The second way: find the desired point on the map and double-click on it until the house icon appears.
The service can predict which Starlink devices will be visible over your location over the next five days. To find out the forecast, specify the desired location and click the Predict Passes button – a list of satellites will appear. For each device are listed:
- number;
- local date, time and period when the satellite can be seen;
- the time when the device will be most noticeable;
- coordinates;
- degree of visibility.
There is a star map on satflare.com. It shows the movement of Starlink devices in the sky relative to the selected location. Green lines are the trajectories of well-marked satellites. Those who are almost invisible move along the gray ones.
How to track the flight of a satellite through a smartphone
Find Starlink Satellites
This application is from findstarlink.com, so the functions here are the same as on the site. The service shows which satellites will fly over your location over the next five days. The 2D map shows devices in real time.
Specify the country and city (or coordinates) and click on the Find Visible Times button. You can set a reminder for certain satellites so as not to miss them – the Remind Me button.
The application is available for free for smartphones, tablets on iOS and Android.