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ScienceQuiet 11d · day 12

Study: Starlink Satellites Leak Radio Noise Into Key Astronomy Frequencies

Curtin University researchers find SpaceX hardware emissions up to 10,000 times stronger than the ancient cosmic signals the SKA-Low telescope is built to detect.

newest coverage 11d agosummary written 12d ago35 pieces424 likes & upvotes98 comments Hacker NewsNewswiresMastodonRedditBluesky

What to know

  • Curtin University measured 112,534 unintended radio emissions from 1,806 Starlink satellites in the 73–235 MHz band SKA-Low needs to detect signals from the cosmic dawn.
  • The leakage is accidental hardware noise, not scheduled transmissions, and current ITU rules do not clearly cover unintended emissions even inside protected astronomy bands.
  • SpaceX has previously made engineering changes for optical brightness and coordinated on higher-frequency bands, but has not yet addressed this low-frequency hardware leakage.
  • Algorithmic mitigation is described as still in early ('embryonic') stages, leaving engineering fixes to satellite hardware as the main proposed solution.

Steven Tingay Curtin University researcherSpaceX / Starlink Satellite constellation operatorInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU) Global spectrum regulatorSKA-Low / Curtin University team Radio astronomy project and researchers

Study: Starlink Satellites Leak Radio Noise Into Key Astronomy Frequencies
gadgetreview.com

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 11 pieces in 3h at Sep 11, 10 PM; 35 pieces over 13 days (1 article · 10 posts · 24 comments) Sep 11, 7 PM — 6 pieces · 1 article · 1 post · 4 comments — Hacker News 5, Newswires 1Sep 11, 10 PM — 11 pieces · 4 posts · 7 comments — Reddit 7, Mastodon 3, Hacker News 1Sep 12, 1 AM — 5 pieces · 2 posts · 3 comments — Hacker News 3, Bluesky 1, Mastodon 1Sep 12, 4 AM — 3 pieces · 2 posts · 1 comment — Bluesky 1, Mastodon 1, Hacker News 1Sep 12, 7 AM — quietSep 12, 10 AM — 2 pieces · 2 comments — Reddit 2Sep 12, 1 PM — 4 pieces · 4 comments — Reddit 3, Hacker News 1Sep 12, 4 PM — 1 piece · 1 comment — Reddit 1Sep 12, 7 PM — quietSep 12, 10 PM — 1 piece · 1 comment — Reddit 1Sep 13, 1 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 13, 4 AM — 1 piece · 1 comment — Reddit 1Sep 13, 7 AM — quietSep 13, 10 AM — quietSep 13, 1 PM — quietSep 13, 4 PM — quietSep 13, 7 PM — quietSep 13, 10 PM — quietSep 14, 1 AM — quietSep 14, 4 AM — quietSep 14, 7 AM — quietSep 14, 10 AM — quietSep 14, 1 PM — quietSep 14, 4 PM — quietSep 14, 7 PM — quietSep 14, 10 PM — quietSep 15, 1 AM — quietSep 15, 4 AM — quietSep 15, 7 AM — quietSep 15, 10 AM — quietSep 15, 1 PM — quietSep 15, 4 PM — quietSep 15, 7 PM — quietSep 15, 10 PM — quietSep 16, 1 AM — quietSep 16, 4 AM — quietSep 16, 7 AM — quietSep 16, 10 AM — quietSep 16, 1 PM — quietSep 16, 4 PM — quietSep 16, 7 PM — quietSep 16, 10 PM — quietSep 17, 1 AM — quietSep 17, 4 AM — quietSep 17, 7 AM — quietSep 17, 10 AM — quietSep 17, 1 PM — quietSep 17, 4 PM — quietSep 17, 7 PM — quietSep 17, 10 PM — quietSep 18, 1 AM — quietSep 18, 4 AM — quietSep 18, 7 AM — quietSep 18, 10 AM — quietSep 18, 1 PM — quietSep 18, 4 PM — quietSep 18, 7 PM — quietSep 18, 10 PM — quietSep 19, 1 AM — quietSep 19, 4 AM — quietSep 19, 7 AM — quietSep 19, 10 AM — quietSep 19, 1 PM — quietSep 19, 4 PM — quietSep 19, 7 PM — quietSep 19, 10 PM — quietSep 20, 1 AM — quietSep 20, 4 AM — quietSep 20, 7 AM — quietSep 20, 10 AM — quietSep 20, 1 PM — quietSep 20, 4 PM — quietSep 20, 7 PM — quietSep 20, 10 PM — quietSep 21, 1 AM — quietSep 21, 4 AM — quietSep 21, 7 AM — quietSep 21, 10 AM — quietSep 21, 1 PM — quietSep 21, 4 PM — quietSep 21, 7 PM — quietSep 21, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 1 AM — quietSep 22, 4 AM — quietSep 22, 7 AM — quietSep 22, 10 AM — quietSep 22, 1 PM — quietSep 22, 4 PM — quietSep 22, 7 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quiet 1
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  1. background

    SpaceX said to be open to dialogue after researchers share findings — According to the report, SpaceX has previously addressed optical brightness with satellite visors and coordinated with NSF on higher-frequency bands, and is reportedly open to discussing future hardware changes, though algorithmic mitigation is described by scientists as still "embryonic."

  2. background

    Researchers flag a regulatory gray zone for unintended emissions — The ITU protects certain radio astronomy bands from intentional transmissions, but unintended electromagnetic leakage from satellite hardware falls largely outside that framework even when it lands inside protected spectrum.

  3. background

    Curtin University publishes Starlink leakage study in Astronomy & Astrophysics — Using the Engineering Development Array 2, a prototype SKA-Low station in Australia, researchers analyzed about 76 million radio images over 29 days and catalogued 112,534 emissions from 1,806 unique Starlink satellites across 73–235 MHz, the band SKA-Low needs for cosmic-dawn hydrogen signals.

  4. 1

    Story spreads across Hacker News and social platforms

    The Gadget Review report was posted to Hacker News and picked up by Mastodon-linked feeds, drawing dozens of comments as the piece circulated.

    “Comparable to the brightest natural radio sources in the sky.”
    — Steven Tingay, Curtin University researcher · source
    • cdarwin@c.im

      Astronomers spent decades designing the Square Kilometre Array Low (SKA-Low) to hear the faintest whisper in the observable universe — neutral hydrogen signals from the cosmic dawn, when the first stars flickered on roughly 13 billion years ago. What they’re picking up instead is electronic leakage from SpaceX satellites. -- Not the broadband…

      cdarwin@c.imMastodon12d ago95▲view on Mastodon ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 28 posts in this stretch

    • There is some evidence that little engineering effort has been put into mitigating this problem. I think if someone actually tried really hard we could make these birds a lot quieter.> We compared the detected power flux densities of this UEMR to that emitted by the first generation v1.0 and v1.5 Starlink satellites. When correcting for the…

      bob1029Hacker News12d agoview on Hacker News ↗

    • I'm sorry what? "ULA couldn't design their rockets properly" They can design their rockets properly. It's Space X that cannot even get into orbit. Starship has had 10 years to get working and your complaining about Starliner? At least Starliner has a purpose and a destination. Holye shit you definitely have cognitive dissonance....... "designing…

      lextacy2008r/space11d agoview on r/space ↗
    all of them →

What people are saying 21 voices from 3 sites · best of 28 · verbatim