ASST_NON_2332666_049|

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SWIFT-SAT: COEXISTENCE OF REMOTE ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS SUSCEPTIBLE TO INTERFERENCE WITH LARGE COMMUNICATION SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS -THE FOCUS OF THIS AWARD IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PLAN FOR THE COEXISTENCE AT THE SOUTH POLE OF TRANSMISSIONS TO AND FROM LARGE COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS LIKE STARLINK WITH INSTRUMENTS IN THE ANTARCTIC DARK SECTOR VULNERABLE TO THESE TRANSMISSIONS. THIS BUILDS ON EXTENSIVE AND VARIED EXPERIENCE IN UNDERSTANDING AND MITIGATING INTERFERENCE IN PRECISION CMB INSTRUMENTS. THE PROPOSED WORK WOULD ALSO CONTINUE ONGOING EFFORTS IN UNDERSTANDING HARMFUL INTERFERENCE THRESHOLDS AND DEVELOPING REASONABLE AND WELL-JUSTIFIED PLANS FOR THE INEVITABLE EXISTENCE OF RF TRANSMISSIONS AT SOME LEVEL WITHIN THE DARK SECTOR. HISTORICALLY, THESE EFFORTS HAVE ADDRESSED SITUATIONS AS THEY ARISE, OR AFTER DATA IS DISCOVERED TO BE CONTAMINATED. THE EMERGING THREAT OF INTERFERENCE FROM LARGE SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS IS TOO COMPLEX AND POTENTIALLY DEVASTATING TO SCIENTIFIC DATASETS TO ADDRESS IN THE SAME AD HOC WAY. THE PROJECT CONSISTS OF COORDINATION WITH THE SPACEX NETWORK (STARLINK) ON A PLAN OF COEXISTENCE; DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE STARLINK TERMINAL SUITABLE FOR LONG-TERM INSTALLATION, INCLUDING A WINTERIZED REMOTE USER TERMINAL; DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMPROVED RFI MONITORING SYSTEM CAPABLE OF DETECTING STARLINK TRANSMISSIONS, WITH VISUALIZATION TOOLS AND INTEGRATION INTO SCIENTIFIC DATA STREAMS; ANALYSIS OF CURRENT DATA SETS FROM THE DARK SECTOR TO CHARACTERIZE AND UNDERSTAND RFI ISSUES, AND DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDIZED RFI SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTS TO DETERMINE VULNERABILITY OF FUTURE INSTRUMENTS. THE PRIMARY FOCUS FOR THIS PROJECT IS INSTRUMENTS (SUCH AS CMB-S4) DESIGNED TO MEASURE THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND WITH VERY LONG INTEGRATIONS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

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Subtier code:

8000