The MegaWave Radio Surveyor

[2608.26322] The MegaWave Radio Surveyor Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Astrophysics > Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics arXiv:2608.26322 (astro-ph) [Submitted on 26 Aug 2026 ( v1 ), last revised 28 Aug 2026 (this version, v2)] Title: The MegaWave Radio Surveyor Authors: T. Joseph W. Lazio (Michigan), Evgenya Shkolnik (ASU), James Aguirre (Pennsylvania), Stuart D. Bale (UC Berkeley), Judd Bowman (ASU), Ruby Byrne (Caltech), Joseph Callingham (ASTRON), Tracy E. Clarke (NRL), Ivey Davis (ASTRON), Tim Dolch (UNM), Peter Driscoll (Carnegie Science), Anastasia Fialkov (Cambridge), Steven Furlanetto (UCLA), Simona Giacintucci (NRL), Ravit Helled (Univ. Zurich), Jacqueline Hewitt (MIT), Phil Hopkins (Caltech), Andrea Isella (Rice), Daniel Jacobs (ASU), Eloy de Lera Acedo (Cambridge), Melodie M. Kao (Lowell Observatory), Mary Knapp (MIT/Haystack Observatory), L.V.E. Koopmans (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute), Nicholas Kern (Michigan), Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway (Eindhoven University of Technology), Susan T. Lepri (Michigan), R. O. Parke Loyd (Eureka Scientific), James P. Lux (JPL, Caltech), James P. Mason (APL/JHU), Raul Monsalve (Universidad Andrés Bello), Miguel Morales (Univ. Washington), Julian B. Muñoz (UT Austin), Rachel Osten (Johns Hopkins, STScI), J. Sebastian Pineda (CU Boulder), Jonathan Pober (Brown), Sam B. Ponnada (Chalmers), Leslie A. Rogers (Chicago), Saurabh Singh (Raman Research Institute), Jake D. Turner (Cornell), Jackie Villadsen (Bucknell), Philippe Zarka (Observatoire de Paris), John ZuHorne (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), Ellen Zweibel (Univ. Wisconsin, Madison) View PDF Abstract: Several Decadal-level questions in astrophysics, exoplanets, astrobiology, and cosmology can be addressed only at low radio frequencies inaccessible from Earth. The MegaWave Radio Surveyor would open this largely-unexplored region of the electromagnetic spectrum with a space-based interferometer to (1)~Track the space weather of other stars; (2)~Detect magnetically-generated emission from exoplanets to probe their interiors and assess magnetic shielding of their atmospheres; (3)~Probe the Universe's evolution during the Dark Ages via the highly-redshifted HI hyperfine line; and (4)~Assess the role of cosmic rays and magnetic fields in the cosmic web. An Astrophysics Strategic Technology & Research Accelerator (ASTRA) Initiative concept, the MegaWave Radio Surveyor's science objectives respond to the Pathways to Discovery Decadal Survey and three other National Academies studies, and it would serve as a Formative Era mission in the Enduring Quests, Daring Visions roadmap. Developments in U.S. space industries enable this observatory to be realized. The MegaWave Radio Surveyor would offer a versatile, scalable, and resilient architecture capable of sensitive and simultaneous observations below 45~MHz and unprecedented angular resolution at these frequencies. The concept builds upon NASA's Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE), Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS), and Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment (LuSEE-Night). The MegaWave Radio Surveyor could leverage multiple elements of the Artemis program, such as access to and beyond cislunar space and communications, and there are opportunities to infuse new autonomy/AI modes for mission operations. By opening one of the last windows in the electromagnetic spectrum and pioneering space interferometry at unprecedented scales, the MegaWave Radio Surveyor would establish a transformational capability. Comments: 20 pages, 8 figures; expanded NASA ASTRA concept description to provide a broader view of the science case; to be submitted to the Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society (BAAS); abstract abridged; acknowledgements updated Subjects: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) ; Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO); Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) Cite as: arXiv:2608.26322 [astro-ph.IM] (or arXiv:2608.26322v2 [astro-ph.IM] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.26322 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Joseph Lazio [ view email ] [v1] Wed, 26 Aug 2026 18:55:06 UTC (9,728 KB) [v2] Fri, 28 Aug 2026 04:43:36 UTC (9,728 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF TeX Source view license Current browse context: astro-ph.IM < prev | next > new | recent | 2026-08 Change to browse by: astro-ph astro-ph.CO astro-ph.EP astro-ph.SR References & Citations INSPIRE HEP SciX Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) IArxiv recommender toggle IArxiv Recommender ( What is IArxiv? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. 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