Astronomy is threatened by an unprecedented radio leak from Starlink satellites

The European Low Frequency Radio Telescope Network, or LOFAR, has been scanning faint, distant objects across the universe since 2012 to help detect black holes and search for exoplanets.

But in the five years since Musk’s private company, SpaceX, began launching Starlink satellites, a surge in radio wave emissions has made it increasingly difficult for LOFAR to make observations.

“Last year, we started seeing interference signals in the sky, and we were able to trace them back to some of the first-generation Starlink satellites that were orbiting above Earth,” said Jessica Dempsey, scientific director and director general of the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.

SpaceX now has a constellation of more than 6,000 satellites in orbit, providing high-speed internet to almost anywhere on Earth.

Starlink satellites emit unintended electromagnetic radiation, which LOFAR astronomers believe is caused by faulty batteries.

Dempsey said they spoke with SpaceX about mitigation techniques last year and were optimistic the problem was being addressed.

But when astronomers went to make observations in July, they found that SpaceX’s upgraded Starlink V2 Mini satellites were causing more interference.

In fact, the second generation of Starlink satellites, known as v2mini and v2mini Direct-to-Cell, leak 32 times more radiation than their predecessors.

This is a problem, because some of the leaked radiation is at radio wavelengths that are supposed to remain clear for radio astronomy purposes.

The worst part, Dempsey said, is that the problem is getting worse as more satellites join the constellation already in orbit.

Dempsey and her colleagues published these results in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Source: Independent