Radio Astronomy and Other Spectrum Users
Would space solar beams interfere with radio telescopes, communications and radar?
Chapter summary
they could, and managing this is a precondition of licensing.
Key takeaways
- 1
A microwave beam carrying gigawatts must be very pure in frequency: even tiny fractions leaking into nearby bands would be strong compared with the faint signals radio astronomers study or with satellite links.
- 2
The frequencies most often proposed, 2.45 and 5.8 GHz, sit in bands used for industrial, scientific and medical purposes (ISM bands), where Wi-Fi and microwave ovens already operate, but neighbouring bands host radar, satellite and astronomy services.
- 3
Amplifiers produce harmonics (multiples of the main frequency) and spurious emissions, which would need filtering to very low levels.
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