Unexpected discovery: SpaceX satellites transmitting in unusual radio range
An amateur satellite tracker, Scott Tilley from Canada, accidentally discovered a subgroup of classified SpaceX military satellites (known as Starshield) transmitting data on the wrong radio frequency, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.
While scanning rarely used radio bands as part of his hobby, Tilley stumbled upon unexpected signals in the 2025–2110 MHz range — a spectrum typically reserved for receiving data from ground stations, not for sending data back to Earth.
He recorded the mysterious transmissions and cross-referenced them with satellite tracking databases maintained by the amateur community. To his surprise, he identified 170 Starshield satellites transmitting on that same frequency — part of a classified U.S. military constellation used for Earth observation and communications.
This frequency range is usually quiet and regulated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the use of it in reverse (space-to-Earth) by SpaceX could cause interference with nearby satellites, including commercial and scientific ones.
No official complaints have been filed, but Tilley published his findings on Zenodo.org to raise awareness among satellite operators. He described the discovery as a keyboard slip that led to an unexpected breakthrough.
