Starlink may disrupt Square Kilometre Array in South Africa

CapeTalk’s John Maytham speaks with Dr Lerothodi Leeuw, a leading voice in the field and senior researcher with the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) and Research Associate at UNISA.

Listen below:

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network may pose a threat to South Africa’s astronomical research.

Scientists working on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA-Mid) project fear Musk’s satellites will interfere with signals from deep space.

SKA-Mid is set to become the most powerful radio telescope in the world and is designed to pick up ultra-faint radio signals coming from deep in our universe.

However, Starlink satellites, which operate in overlapping frequency ranges (350 MHz – 15.4 GHz), could blind the telescope to these signals.

These fears have resurfaced amid negotiations to licence Starlink in South Africa.

Leeuw says no radio towers are allowed to be built near the telescopes in South Africa because of the risk of interference.

“On the ground, we take this very seriously.”

- Dr Lerothodi Leeuw, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory

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However, this protection does not apply to radio transmitters on Earth-orbiting satellites.

Leeuw says there are some options to mitigate the problem, such as turning off the satellites over the area.

Scroll up to the audio player for more.