Starlink's effect on astrophotography is overstated. Starlink is in a fairly low orbit, so past twilight, the satellites are in Earth's shadow and aren't visibl

Starlink's effect on astrophotography is overstated. Starlink is in a fairly low orbit, so past twilight, the satellites are in Earth's shadow and aren't visible. The Iridium constellation orbits at 780km, for instance, while Starlink is 550km. During the darkest parts of the night, peak time for observation, the satellites aren't visible. My guess is that there won't be an appreciable difference in the number of space telescopes. Hubble cost $4.7 before it was launched, and it was just a derivative of keyhole, so even though launch prices are cheap these days (compared to the $550 million it cost per Space Shuttle launch) the cost of a space telescope is still pretty steep.