DarkSky Planner — Astrophotography Imaging Window Predictor
An app for serious astrophotographers that predicts the best nights to image at any dark-sky site, accounting for mirror satellites, Starlink passes, weather, moon phase, and light pollution — so they don't drive 3 hours to a ruined exposure.
Serious amateur astrophotographers, astronomy clubs, and dark-sky tour operators planning imaging sessions
- Hourly satellite pass predictions with intensity ratings from mirror-satellite constellations and Starlink trains
- Smoke, fire, and wildfire aerosol forecast overlay using NOAA / Copernicus atmospheric data
- Personalized dark-site ranking that weighs your gear, target list, and travel time
- Push alerts the day before a planned session if conditions have degraded, with reschedule suggestions
The FCC just approved an experimental 18-meter mirror satellite (Eärendil-1) with a 50,000-satellite vision by 2035 — astrophotographers face a new and unpredictable class of sky pollution that current planning tools ignore.
Strong hobbyist community exists with already-vocal complaints about Starlink trails in astrophotos (Astrobin forum threads, Reddit, Scientific American coverage), and existing serious apps (Astrospheric, ClearOutside) prove real planning pain — but search volumes are niche.Starlink and Astronomers Are in a Light Pollution Standoff | Scientific American ↗Is Starlink Ruining Your Astrophotography Experience? - Astrobin Forum ↗
Market is crowded with overlapping astronomy weather apps (Astrospheric, ClearOutside, AstroSeeing, Cosmic Frame, LightPlan, Stellarium) that already cover weather + moon + light pollution — no mainstream tool yet integrates orbital mirror or satellite-pass predictions, leaving a narrow gap rather than open whitespace.The Best Weather Apps for Astronomy in 2026 - AstroBackyard ↗17 Best Astrophotography Apps in 2026 - Skies and Scopes ↗
Astrospheric runs a proven paid Pro subscription tier (unlimited favorites, API, pro alerts) serving exactly this audience, demonstrating willingness to pay in the low-double-digit annual range among serious amateur astrophotographers and astronomy societies.Astrospheric Subscription Table ↗Astrospheric Pro Subscription ↗
Reflect Orbital's Eärendil-1 is FCC-approved with a stated 50,000-satellite vision by 2035, and the broader megaconstellation trend (Starlink, Kuiper, Guowang) makes satellite-pass planning a permanently relevant feature rather than a passing concern.The US Approves Launch of Mirror Satellite That Can Reflect Sunlight - WIRED ↗
Building requires TLE/orbital element ingestion (CelesTrak, Space-Track), celestial ephemeris libraries, weather API aggregation, and Bortle/light-pollution datasets — well-trodden APIs and open-source libraries (Skyfield, Stellarium data) make it buildable by a small team, but coordinating all layers into a polished, site-specific predictor is non-trivial.FCC Greenlights Reflect Orbital's 18m Sun Mirror Sat - Orbital Intel ↗