Overview
- Amateur tracker Scott Tilley in British Columbia reports detecting space-to-Earth transmissions from roughly 170 Starshield satellites in the 2025–2110 MHz range.
- The 2025–2110 MHz band is globally allocated for ground-to-space uplinks, making persistent downlinks unusual and contrary to ITU coordination practices.
- Experts say such use could create radio-frequency interference that hampers other satellites’ command links, though widespread disruption has not been documented.
- SpaceX and the National Reconnaissance Office, which has conducted 11 Starshield launches and says more than 200 satellites are on orbit, did not comment.
- The purpose of the low-frequency downlinks remains unclear, with outside observers offering hypotheses about low-data telemetry or operational concealment.