Elon Musk’s new generation of Starlink satellites is causing concern among Dutch scientists, who claim the new satellites will bring faster internet around the world and cause massive interference for astronomers.
According to researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), thousands of orbiting Starlink satellites are “blinding” radio telescopes, perhaps harming astronomical research. Since these telescopes operate on radio waves to investigate the universe, the collection of clean data becomes much more complicated due to the interference caused by these satellites.
Starlink satellites connect remote areas to broadband internet, whether it’s challenging situations like Ukraine and Yemen or rural districts in the U.K. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said tests in 2022 showed Starlink could deliver internet speeds four times faster than average.
However, scientists argue that such privilege comes at a huge research cost.
“With LOFAR (Low Frequency Array), we have started a program to monitor unexpected emissions from satellites belonging to different constellations, and our observations show that the second-generation Starlink satellites emit much stronger emissions than first-generation satellites and do so across a larger range of radio frequencies,” says Cees Bassa of ASTRON (the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy), lead author of the study.
according to a Released by Astron, Analysis showed that these new satellites emitted unwanted radio waves up to 32 times brighter than the first generation, with levels potentially exceeding internationally regulated limits for interference set for intentional emissions, and also had more relaxed terrestrial electromagnetic compatibility standards.
“The UEMR from the Starlink satellites is 10 million times brighter than the faintest astronomical sources we observe with LOFAR. This difference is similar to the brightness of the faintest stars visible to the naked eye and the full moon. Since SpaceX is launching about 40 second-generation Starlink satellites every week, this problem is becoming increasingly worse,” says Cees Bassa.
“Humanity is clearly reaching a turning point where we need to take action to preserve our skies as a window to explore the universe from Earth. Satellite companies are not interested in producing this unwanted radiation, so reducing it should also be a priority in their sustainable space policies,” says Federico Di Vruno of the SKA Observatory. “Starlink is not the only big player in LEO, but they have a chance to set the standard here,” he adds.
The researchers emphasized that second-generation satellites are designed to enhance connectivity and provide communication services, but unintentional radio emissions are a growing threat to the integrity of astronomical observations. As the consequences of such interference are becoming more evident, collaboration between satellite companies, regulatory agencies, and the astronomical community is essential to devise effective mitigation strategies.