Radio waves do experience some level of attenuation when traveling through space, but the extent of this attenuation is significantly less than within Earth’s atmosphere. In the vacuum of space, the primary factor causing attenuation is the spreading of the wavefront over large distances, known as free-space path loss. This occurs because the energy emitted from a source is distributed over an ever-increasing area as it propagates, following the inverse square law.
While the vacuum of space is devoid of air molecules that could absorb or scatter the radio waves, some attenuation can still occur when radio waves encounter interstellar dust, gas clouds, or cosmic plasma. These interactions, however, generally have a minimal impact compared to the attenuation caused by atmospheric conditions on Earth.
It’s also worth noting that other factors, such as the frequency of the radio waves, can affect how they travel through space. For instance, higher-frequency waves might be slightly more susceptible to scattering by small particles in space.
Overall, while radio waves are subject to some attenuation in space, they generally propagate more freely there than through Earth’s atmosphere, making space an ideal medium for long-distance radio communications.