● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportMedium impact1 negative
Starlink Satellites Leak Radio Frequencies, Threatening Radio Astronomy Projects
Key points
- Starlink satellites emit unintended radio leakage from onboard hardware.
- Leakage detected across 73–235 MHz, a critical range for SKA-Low.
- Emissions are up to 10,000 times stronger than cosmic signals.
- Interference found within ITU-protected astronomy bands.
Unintended Emissions from Starlink Satellites
Astronomers have detected unintended radio frequency leakage from SpaceX's Starlink satellites. This leakage originates from onboard hardware rather than intentional broadband transmissions. The emissions are coupling through satellite structures and radiating across frequencies that were not authorized for such use.
Interference with SKA-Low Project
A team from Curtin University, utilizing the Engineering Development Array 2 (a prototype SKA-Low station), analyzed 76 million radio images over 29 days. Their findings, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, show 112,534 individual radio emissions from 1,806 unique Starlink satellites. These emissions fall within the 73–235 MHz range, which is crucial for the SKA-Low project's goal of detecting neutral hydrogen signals from the cosmic dawn.
Magnitude of the Problem
The detected Starlink signals are approximately 10,000 times stronger than the cosmic signals SKA-Low is designed to detect. Some frequencies experienced Starlink interference in up to 30% of images. Emissions were also found within two ITU-protected bands (73–74.6 MHz and 150.05–153 MHz), where such signals are not supposed to exist. These unpredictable hardware leakages cannot be easily modeled or subtracted from astronomical data.
Threat to Radio Astronomy
The high sensitivity required for projects like SKA-Low means that this contamination does not just degrade data quality; it risks making entire frequency bands scientifically unusable. Steven Tingay of Curtin University described Starlink's leaked emissions as "comparable to the brightest natural radio sources in the sky."
Regulatory Gap
Current international frameworks do not adequately address unintended satellite emissions, leaving them in a regulatory gray zone. This means that while the emissions are problematic for astronomy, no existing rules are technically being broken, even when the emissions occur within protected astronomy bands.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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Reporting from
Starlink satellites are emitting unintended radio leakage across critical frequencies, interfering with radio astronomy projects like the Square Kilometre Array Low (SKA-Low). This leakage, detected by a Curtin University team, is significantly stronger than the cosmic signals astronomers aim to detect, potentially rendering specific frequency bands unusable for scientific research.