Researchers at the Zwicky Transient Facility in California have analyzed the degree to which SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation is affecting ground-based astronomical observations.

Not surprisingly, “the number of affected images is increasing with time as SpaceX deploys more satellites,” but, so far, science operations at ZTF “have not yet been severely affected by satellite streaks, despite the increase in their number observed during the analyzed period,” the astronomers write in their study.

Indeed, images most affected by Starlink were those taken at dawn or dusk.

A concern expressed in the new paper is that, when Starlink gets to 10,000 satellites—which SpaceX expects to achieve by 2027—all ZTF images taken during twilight will contain at least one satellite streak.

In a Caltech press release, Mróz, now at the University of Warsaw in Poland, said he doesn’t “expect Starlink satellites to affect non-twilight images, but if the satellite constellation of other companies goes into higher orbits, this could cause problems for non-twilight observations.” A pending satellite constellation managed by OneWeb, a UK-based telecommunications firm, will orbit at an operational altitude of 745 miles (1,200 km), for example.

The scientists also looked into the measures taken by SpaceX to reduce the brightness of Starlink satellites.