By Kurtis Archer | 2025-07-30

A new type of highly resistant and super-black paint created by researchers is seeking to improve light pollution, a growing problem in astrophotography since the introduction of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations.

SpaceX's Starlink constellation, for example, consists of more than 7,500 satellites that provide internet access to much of the world.

However, the light pollution in the night sky caused by the constellation has been controversial since SpaceX deployed its first batch of Starlink satellites in 2019. The spacecraft have such a low orbit that their reflected sunlight often appears brighter than stars in the night sky do to observers on Earth.

While the company had experimented with dark paint, it ran into problems with satellites overheating from the amount of light absorbed.

Meanwhile, the $1.9-billion Vera Rubin Observatory facility operated by the United States in Chile is set to survey the night sky over a period of 10 years, and astronomers are concerned that up to 40% of its images will be marred by satellite streaks.

A growing problem

The problem is anticipated to become worse with time, as larger numbers of satellites go into orbit every year and tens of thousands of satellites are expected to be flying before 2030.

A new paint being developed by Surrey NanoSystems with the assistance of astronomers is promising to help the situation.

Coating satellites with Vantablack 310 could reduce the amount of light reflected to 2% of what unpainted satellites reflect now.

University of Surrey astrophysicist Noelia Noël is expected to take part in the Vera Rubin Observatory's mission to map the sky

Without the paint, there will be a significant reduction in the project's scientific return on investment, she said. She is working with Surrey NanoSystems to develop the coating.

"Over the past five years, humankind has launched more satellites into space than it has done over the previous 60 years. It's a real problem for astronomy, especially for telescopes like Vera Rubin, which had to significantly change its observing strategy to avoid satellite clusters. So, I wanted to do something about it," Noël told Space.com on June 10.

"I don't want to be too optimistic, but I hope that with this new solution, we might be able to inspire some policy changes. Satellites are an amazing technology, but we also want to make sure that the sky remains accessible to everyone. Large telescopes represent a huge investment, and we want to make sure that it doesn't go to waste," Noël added.

The perils of human touch

Previous coatings absorbed 99.9% of light but were difficult to apply and would become compromised if human hands touched them.

"The previous coating was based on a carbon nanotube structure that can't be touched because it would collapse. We needed something that can be easily handled by engineers at their own facilities," Kieran Clifford, a materials scientist at Surrey NanoSystems, told Space.com.

"The proliferation of satellite constellations is expected to bring huge societal benefit in technology areas including global communication and remote sensing. Unfortunately, the current brightness of these satellites severely disrupts ground-based astronomy," noted Clifford.

"We know from some simulations that we have done that our coating should make satellites invisible to the naked eye," Clifford added, noting that competitor coatings reflect about 5% of incoming light while Vantablack 310 reflects only 2%.

Vantablack 310 not only outperforms other dark paints in light absorption but also in durability in the harsh conditions of space, according to Clifford.

"We conducted tests that simulated three years in orbit, and our coating withstood it with negligible changes whereas other types of space paints completely eroded."

The new paint prevents the overheating issue previously demonstrated in SpaceX tests, said Clifford.

Vantablack 310 will be tested in LEO next year on a CubeSat carrying student payloads.

"The rear of the satellite's deployable solar panel will be coated with Vantablack 310, and we will be rotating the satellite while making ground-based measurements to observe the changes in brightness," explained Clifford.