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Do any other launch service providers, like United Launch Alliance, make these specifications publicly available (without needing to sign an NDA or whatever)?
Here's Delta IV: https://www.ulalaunch.com/docs/default-source/rockets/delta-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most places that will be Starlink customers have no internet of any kind available, and the situation even at maximum possible negative observation impact of Starlink is not accurately described as "not being able to observe the heavens anymore".
Pretty sure this statement isn't accurate. a) Even in the outbacks of Australia people still have access to the internet via satellite services. In fact very few places in the world, if any, have access to no internet at all rather it's just slow and expensive e.g. Iridium. b) Starlink needs ground stations to work which means it isn't going to be usable in totally rural areas. And even then it will be interesting to…
I am so happy Elon Musk exists today. The world is a much more interesting place to live in. I was outside the other night on a walk and all the sudden I see a 60 satellite Starlink fleet above me and it honestly brought me to tears. He has made science fiction real and has progressed all of humanity more than anyone else alive today IMO. I can't wait for the Elon hate replies.
Anyways, I am curious if people here have observed similar trends in all areas of public discourse? There is so much division in the world and I am not convinced it is 100% due to the merit alone - it is sort of this ugly evil tribalism of humans that have recently kicked in.
Just recently, the Vice is spinning a hateful contempful justification for space exploration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v016_pe3tCk
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Sure would have been nice if all of that had been co-ordinated with astronomers so we wouldn't have to impose the negative externality of not being able to observe the heavens anymore as a price paid for faster internet.
Why can't astronomers have algorithms that selectively throw away data from pixels that are known to have a satellite or a plane in then? It seems like a problem that software can solve. Granted it's more effort on the side of astronomers.
In the month that Arecibo collapsed I think it's potentially worth pointing out that astronomers aren't exactly suffering from an abundance of money.
I am so happy Elon Musk exists today. The world is a much more interesting place to live in. I was outside the other night on a walk and all the sudden I see a 60 satellite Starlink fleet above me and it honestly brought me to tears. He has made science fiction real and has progressed all of humanity more than anyone else alive today IMO. I can't wait for the Elon hate replies.
Why does it seem so hard to get good looking justified text? It appears to me that only (La)TeX manages to get spacing 'correct' / aesthetically pleasing (IMHO). Going from the metadata, this file was generated by "Microsoft Office Word": you'd think MS would have the resources to figure this out.
All the references like "Please contact sales@spacex.com to evaluate how Starship can meet your unique needs" are pretty funny. I'd like to imagine some mid-level manager working on his little satellite project browsing this pamphlet, thinking, "Hmmm, this 'SpaceX' company looks interesting. Let me send them an email."
I had a similar giggle reading about the "rideshare opportunities" > This large deployable envelope allows for the design of novel payloads, rideshare opportunities and entire constellations of satellites on a single launch. I'm totally looking forward to hailing a Starship in the Uber app. (I actually don't know what they mean by ridesharing)
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I would love to be corrected but Starlink doesn't seem like a solution for true global internet. As you can see in this diagram which is the approved ground stations for Australia: https://i.redd.it/f7u55u7edbz51.jpg It is really only competing with existing internet service providers and likely will not be profitable to roll out to even the rest of Australia let alone places like Africa.
I believe the eventual goal is to add satellite-to-satellite links, to permit routing to more remote areas (albeit with increased latency).
a) None of the launched satellites will be able to support it.
b) ESA Sentinel laser link is only getting bandwidth of between 1.8-7.2 Gbit/s which isn't all that much.
I am so happy Elon Musk exists today. The world is a much more interesting place to live in. I was outside the other night on a walk and all the sudden I see a 60 satellite Starlink fleet above me and it honestly brought me to tears. He has made science fiction real and has progressed all of humanity more than anyone else alive today IMO. I can't wait for the Elon hate replies.
I think discussions about Elon used to be quite positive here on HN which detriorated over time - partly due to the things Elon did (calling cave diver pedolphile and his Twitter rampage), but I suspect also due to how fragmented we've become in last few years. Downvotes have been omnipresent, there is no nuance in arguments, its either black or white. Left or right. I personally think Elon is a great, smart enterpre…