Given that living near powerlines might be unhealthy, wouldn't being near a downlink site have some unknowns with respect to health and safety?

This isn't wifi/cellphone exposure which is milliwatts, it's actually megawatts or gigawatts of energy.

There is no evidence living near power lines has negative health effects aside from the confounds of low socio economic status typically affiliates with housing near to them. It’s classic tin foil hat wearing that doesn’t belong on HN. You also mis understand or ignore power , frequency , and transmission method in your association of electrical distribution with cell technology.

Power satellites like this are one of the first great possible ways to put industry in space. We need early economic reasons to get there.

Issac Arthur usually has the best overview of topics like this https://youtu.be/eBCbdThIJNE

and what happens when a software error (accidental or deliberate) causes the power beam to go off-target?