‘Back to Boeing,’ 3 years ago they started launching 50 or so satellites at a time. Now there are a little less than 3000 in the 550km high orbit. So I guess we’ve now reached a time when the orbits are fairly full, so there is a constant stream of potentially visible satellites especially at 53N/S.
Also, I’ve seen somewhere that these satellites have flat bottoms so may reflect light better at shallow angles. This means that we can see them far over the horizon during the winter and not the summer as the angles don’t work to be seen. So this winter is probably the first time that it’s become so noticeable.
The polar orbital sats have been a recent addition too, adding to the display.
Last edited by birdspeed; 21st Nov 2022 at 21:58.