Starlink satellites leak astronomy-disturbing EM radiation, say boffins

Nevermind the light pollution – the ever-growing swarm of Starlink satellites orbiting Earth are creating a fresh unknown problem for astronomers: They're leaking electromagnetic radiation.  Germany's Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy made the determination after observing 68 of SpaceX's 4,000-plus Starlink satellites …

[Blank Reg]

Just bring them all down, its growth is limited by available bandwidth which makes it a poor business in the long run.

[Gene Cash]

Starlink is still better than the other shite available to me, ironically enough on the Space Coast not far from where those Falcon 9s are launched.

[Blank Reg]

It would be better to run fiber, it will likely be cheaper in the long run as it doesn't need replacing every 5 years like the LEO satellites used by Starlink. If you're really so far out that fiber is never going to happen then there are terrestrial radio solutions that can get you higher speeds and fewer issues with less atmospheric signal loss.

[Dagg]

Run fibre... (please note spelling, commonwealth English), Yea, right! Try using this solution in the middle of the Australian outback or the middle of the ocean.

Terrestrial radio doesn't work. To get the distances (1,000-5,000km) you require you would need to use HF frequencies and these are dependant on skip and time of day. And there is no way you can get any sort of bandwidth in the HF band, it is ONLY 30mhz wide.

[Blank Reg]

There aren't enough customers in such places to justify such a satellite network.

[John Robson]

And yet apparently not - because fibre isn't being laid.

[Anonymous Coward]

SpaceX is in "close contact" with the Planck Institute over its EM-leaking satellites.

Sending them poomojis?

[Doctor Syntax]

If they haven't done so already no doubt spooks round the world are now looking to see if any useful data is leaking out.

[xyz]

Saw a Starlink train the other week...

Made me feel all caveman as it went over.

Anyway, this is the second version of this "story" that I've read and I love the scientific use of the word "spurious". It all seems a bit witchhunty.

Sent via Starlink. (in the dark, just to be annoying)

[that one in the corner]

Light telescopes polluted, radio telescopes polluted

I *really* hope the next story isn't about StarLink (or other) birds drowning out the GRB[1] signals!

[1] Gamma Ray Bursts, that is.