of the night sky. The magnitude of this effect is a strong function of SPS design parameters, and it appears that for more likely design parameters, in particular for a likely increase in the diffuse albedo of the satellites, the effect will be much greater. For radio astronomy and deep space research there are three major effects. Microwave radiation leaking from a single satellite's intentionally generated power beam can temporarily overload or permanently damage the sensitive receivers used for radio observation. This effect will prevent successful operation of centimeter-wave radio telescopes located too close to power receiver (rectenna) locations or to regions of high leakage (grating side lobes). Necessary avoidance distances may exceed hundreds of kilometers. The effect will also prevent successful operation of such telescopes pointed too near the line of power satellites. The magnitude of this effect can be influenced to some extent by the design of the radio telescope, and to a smaller extent by the design of the SPS. The second major effect arises when power beam leakage from two or more satellites is received simultaneously by a single radio telescope. The result will be a slow, partly random variation in receiver properties that can be extremely difficult to distinguish from the astronomical process being observed. As a result, power beam leakage effects will do markedly greater harm when more than one satellite is operating simultaneously. The third major effect arises from unintentional radio emissions unavoidably associated either with the generation and handling of massive amounts of microwave power, or with the presence of large, warm structures in orbit. When these emissions originate in the power satellites, they make the satellites appear as individual radio sources that do not move as do natural radio sources. When the emissions originate in the power receiving (rectenna) arrays, they can be much like other terrestrial sources of interference. When these emissions lie in the allocated radio astronomy bands, they are subject to the most stringent regulations under international treaty. These regulations may prove extremely difficult for the system to meet. When the emissions occur at other frequencies, they are subject to less stringent
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