Study warns that radiation leakage from Starlink satellite may affect astronomical observations

JAKARTA – A new study warns that more than half of Elon Musk's Starlink internet satellites have radiation leaks in orbit that could affect astronomers' ability to find habitable planets.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute used telescopes in the Netherlands to observe 68 Starlink devices and found that 47 of them emitted “random electromagnetic radiation” that came from the electronics inside.

Although the amount of radiation is tiny, about a million times weaker than smartphone radiation, the research team fears it is enough radiation to be mistaken for radio waves from a distant celestial object.

However, the institute only looked at SpaceX satellites and assumes that a similar situation can also be observed with other satellites in low-Earth orbit.

The observations were carried out with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope mainly in the Netherlands, but also in seven other European countries.

Co-author Cees Bassa of ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, said in a statement: “Using LOFAR, we detected radiation between 110 and 188 MHz from 47 of the 68 observed satellites.”

“This frequency range includes the protected band between 150.05 and 153 MHz, reserved by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) specifically for radio astronomy,” Bassa said.

There were about 2,100 satellites in orbit when the team made their discovery, but the number had increased dramatically to over 4,000.

The leaked radiation falls below the 10.7 to 12.7 GHz radio frequency used for downlink communication signals.

“Every electrical device generates leakage radiation. There’s nothing you can do about it except influence the strength of the signals,” says Gyula Józsa from Max Planck.

The research team is particularly concerned about the effects of this radiation on future telescopes, such as the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO), which is to be built in Australia and South Africa.

While the “quiet zone” surrounds the telescope, Starlink satellites move through the sky and will eventually hover over the sites.

“Normally we simply remove data contaminated by satellites from further processing,” said Józsa, quoted by MailOnline. “The more often this happens, the more observation time is lost. For time-dependent observations, this can mean that important information is missing.”

“For example, astronomers may miss the discovery of mysterious fast radio bursts (FRBs) – very powerful radio emissions that last only a few seconds,” he added.

The research team added that neither SpaceX nor any other satellite operator is violating any laws because devices in orbit are not subject to the same regulations as technologies on the ground.

“This study is the latest attempt to better understand the impact of satellite constellations on radio astronomy,” said study lead author and SKAO spectrum manager Federico Di Vruno.

“This radiation was discussed in previous Dark and Quiet Skies workshops, and our observations confirm that it is measurable,” he said.

SpaceX is also working with astronomers to find a solution that allows satellite constellations and astronomy to coexist without negative impacts.

Musk's Starlink satellites have been a problem for astronomers since 2020, when they began filling the night sky with light pollution and hindering observations.

Piero Benvenuti, secretary general of the IAU and director of the new center, said this mega-constellation poses the greatest threat to modern astronomy.

“In the past, light pollution from city lighting, known as artificial light at night, was the main cause of distraction,” Benvenuti said in a statement. “But recently the impact of large constellations of communications satellites has become a more serious problem due to their widespread invasiveness.”

As of May this year, Starlink had more than 1.5 million subscribers.

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