Starlink (or rather, NOT Starlink) opens final frontier for radio astronomers

[Rick]

Starlink opens final frontier for radio astronomers

...

GO-LoW is, like Starlink, a large fleet of small satellites. There the resemblance ends. While Starlink proposes a maximum constellation of a paltry 30,000 satellites, GO-LoW is thinking of 100,000. Instead of Starlink's 550 km orbit, GO-LoW will live in two clusters at the inherently stable Lagrange 4 and Lagrange 5 points, 150 million km ahead of and behind Earth. In Earth's orbit. That's putting the V into VLBI, and will give coverage down to the wavelengths where the interstellar medium itself becomes opaque to radio waves - a physical fact about which we can do nothing.

More: https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/11/column/

[AndrewRamsay]

I started to read this and thought "Oh, no, not another bunch of satellites to ruin our AP".  Then I read the article.  So that's a good thing, for once.

[Hugh]

Another good catch on space info Rick.

No timetable on this but at least it has a more positive potential outcome over time for satellites.

 

- Hugh

[Rick]

Yes, it's an interesting idea, but I expect the technical challenges will keep a few researchers busy for a while.