Detection of intended and unintended emissions from Starlink satellites in the SKA-Low frequency range, at the SKA-Low site, with an SKA-Low station analog

TL;DR

This study detects and characterizes both intended and unintended radio emissions from Starlink satellites at SKA-Low frequencies, highlighting potential interference with astrophysical observations and emphasizing the need for mitigation strategies.

Contribution

First detection and analysis of Starlink satellite emissions at SKA-Low frequencies using an SKA-like station, revealing interference risks for radio astronomy.

Findings

Starlink satellites emit strong signals detectable at SKA-Low frequencies.

Detected emissions include periodic bursts and steady transmissions.

Unintentional radiation from satellites could interfere with SKA science goals.

Abstract

Intended and unintended radio emissions from satellites can interfere with sensitive radio telescopes in the frequency ranges of key experiments in astrophysics and cosmology. We detect strong intended and unintended electromagnetic radiation from Starlink satellites at the site of the future SKA-Low facility in Western Australia, using an SKA-low prototype station known as the Engineering Development Array version 2 (EDA2). We aim to show that Starlink satellites are easily detectable utilising a configuration of low frequency radio antennas representative of an SKA-Low 'station' and that our results complement similar findings with the LOFAR telescope. Utilising the EDA2 at frequencies of 137.5 MHz and 159.4 MHz, we detect trains of Starlink satellites on 2023-03-17/18 and 2021-11-16/17, respectively, via the formation of all-sky images with a frequency resolution of 0.926 MHz and a time resolution of 2 s. Time differencing techniques are utilised to isolate and characterise the transmissions from Starlink and other satellites. We observe Starlink satellites reaching intensities of $10^6$ Jy/beam, with the detected transmissions exhibiting a range of behaviours, from periodic bursts to steady transmission. The results are notable because they demonstrate that Starlink satellites are detected in the SKA-Low frequency range, transmitting both intentionally and unintentionally. Follow-up work and discussion are needed to identify the cause of this unintentional radiation as it has the potential to interfere with SKA-Low science. Our results indicate that both intended and unintended radiation from Starlink satellites will be detrimental to key SKA science goals without mitigation. Continued conversation with SpaceX could potentially result in future mitigations which the EDA2 instrument could efficiently monitor and characterise at the SKA-Low site.