Scientists Found a Way to Erase Satellite Light Pollution. It Might Cook the Satellites.
An ultra-black coating can make satellites nearly invisible to ground-based telescopes, offering hope for astronomers watching the night sky disappear under satellite swarms. But the same property that absorbs visible light also traps solar heat, creating a thermal management nightmare that could cook satellites or shift their visibility into infrared. The real bottleneck isn’t optics — it’s thermodynamics, materials science, and the total absence of regulation governing who gets to light up the sky.