How wideband software-defined radio payloads on small satellites map global spectrum usage and detect unauthorized radar transmissions.
National spectrum regulatory agencies (such as the FCC in the US, Anatel in Brazil, or BNetzA in Germany) rely on ground-based monitoring towers. In remote international waters, vast desert regions, and contested borders, ground monitoring is impossible, creating fertile ground for rogue radio interference and illegal transmissions.
SpaceGeolocation outfits commercial Low Earth Orbit satellites with wideband digital receivers covering 50 MHz to 18 GHz. As the constellation circles the planet, onboard FPGA processors calculate spectral power density, identifying illegal high-power transmissions and unauthorized radar operations. ``` +-----------------------+ Terrestrial RF Sweep +-----------------------+ | Unauthorized Military | --------------------------------> | Spaceborne SDR Sat | | Radar Transmission | 400 km Free-Space | Onboard Neural Engine | +-----------------------+ +-----------------------+ | v Global RF Heatmap Server Automatic Alert Dispatched ```
Transmitting raw radio frequency I/Q data to ground stations would saturate satellite downlinks. SpaceGeolocation runs quantized neural networks directly on spaceborne accelerators, classifying modulations and extracting metadata (frequency, pulse repetition interval, bandwidth) before downlinking compact telemetry.