Has anyone seen the satellites in the sky that turn on lights lately?

many satellites are up there flying in similar orbits. So its not that odd to see like 3 Satellites flying nearby in a similar orbit.

For example there is a fleet of science satellites on a pole to pole course (i think this specific orbit was called the 'A-Bus') for the sake of getting data from the same location at the same time from a multitude of instruments onboard different satellites.

About the flashes or the light effects...

Satellites have plain surfaces where light can reflect on very good. Since modern sattelites have advanced attitude control systems they don't need to be spin-stabilized any more, so IF they turn, they turn very slowly and a reflection of a solar panel or any other reflective area on the body looks like a bright flash for a limited time.

One group of satellites, the 'IRIDIUM-fleet', is a set of telco-sattelites flying in a clever arrangement of orbits, which cause REGULAR flashing events on earth.

The reason: all satellites have a large highly reflective 3-beam antenna always pointing in a specific direction to the planet. This accurancy of their orbits and their stable attitudes and antenna pointing enables hobiists to calculate appearing flashes in advance.

These satellites came up in a discussion about 'light pollution' too, since their capability to cause such intense reflections is a concern for sensible astronomic optics.

These (so called) 'iridium flashes' can be so intense that they can be observed even in daylight, if you know where to look at, at a specific time.

The international Space Station is going to be visible along the west coast of USA about 11:45 pm PST tonight. It's a really big bright satellite. You'll have to be at least as far north as northern Cal to see it this time. I'm right on the coast in Washington state, but the sky is mostly cloudy. I'm going out now to let my eyes adjust and keep my fingers crossed for a cloud break.

It will be visible a few more times this week; then you won't see it againg until next June.

P.S.: I got a good look at a cloud following the exact path where I should have seen the ISS. Anyone else fair better?

The iss is use ally the first thing I see,then Venus the iss is a lot brighter.Ive seen sats passing by,but usually one at any one time.With light pollution I count myself lucky.