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SpaceX delivers 3rd batch of Starlink satellites in two weeks

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Re: SpaceX delivers 3rd batch of Starlink satellites in two weeks

#41

Post by postingawayonhn »

Roritharr wrote: post #23
rfrey wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the "if Amazon/Google/FB don't comply, someone else will take their place" argument is weaker when replacement requires a constellation of thousands of satellites.

I wonder if the USG would consider the shooting down of Starlink Satellites as an act of war after SpaceX refuses to comply with chinese regulations. It's probably all moot as China would probably simply halt Tesla Sales, as they are not bound by the logics of legality.

I don't think anyone has the ability to shoot down enough Starlink satellites to make a difference.

Musk's biggest risk in China is the CCP confiscating the Tesla factory in Shanghai.

Re: SpaceX delivers 3rd batch of Starlink satellites in two weeks

#42

Post by MetaWhirledPeas »

Magodo wrote: post #4

I'm keen to see Starlink deals with government censorship requests. Can a country even effectively enforce their requests? How will China enforce the Great Firewall for instance?

By pressuring Tesla. One thing making me nervous with Tesla's China business is that it will become too big for Tesla to let it fail, at which point Tesla (and every other Musk company) will be beholden to the CCP.

Re: SpaceX delivers 3rd batch of Starlink satellites in two weeks

#44

Post by jewel »

ctdonath wrote: post #35

While watching today’s launch, occurred to me the ratio of paying-client launches to Starlink launches is [whatever it is]. Profit margins on paid launches must be high, maybe amazing, to support so many Starlink launches.

They've also been raising money ($850M in February) so they don't necessarily have to be using profit from paid launches.

Re: SpaceX delivers 3rd batch of Starlink satellites in two weeks

#45

Post by sfblah »

ctdonath wrote: post #35

While watching today’s launch, occurred to me the ratio of paying-client launches to Starlink launches is [whatever it is]. Profit margins on paid launches must be high, maybe amazing, to support so many Starlink launches.

Does SpaceX really have any capital constraints? I'd assume that in the current environment they can essentially raise/borrow unlimited capital just on Musk's brand name.

Re: SpaceX delivers 3rd batch of Starlink satellites in two weeks

#46

Post by alextheparrot »

My mother was raving about the service the other day.

Speeds are 10-15x faster, she’s having an easier time with her online community college course and her job KPI is up by double digit percents [1]. She was worried that IT wouldn’t be OK with it when I said it was satellite (They’d been burned too many times), but the IT guy was incredibly excited because he’s also waiting to get Starlink.

Looking forward to the service only getting better, really incredible execution.

[0] My dad went on the roof in the cold Wisconsin winter to put it up.

[1] Lines transcribed per hour, as a medical transcriptionist working from home.

Re: SpaceX delivers 3rd batch of Starlink satellites in two weeks

#48

Post by TaylorAlexander »

Roritharr wrote: post #23
rfrey wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the "if Amazon/Google/FB don't comply, someone else will take their place" argument is weaker when replacement requires a constellation of thousands of satellites.

I wonder if the USG would consider the shooting down of Starlink Satellites as an act of war after SpaceX refuses to comply with chinese regulations. It's probably all moot as China would probably simply halt Tesla Sales, as they are not bound by the logics of legality.

Shooting down any satellites is extremely dangerous due to the orbital debris this would create. The US would take that act very seriously.

Re: SpaceX delivers 3rd batch of Starlink satellites in two weeks

#49

Post by missedthecue »

dcgoss wrote: post #7
BooneJS wrote: post #3

My high school daughter has really gotten into astronomy and space in the last few years, and is torn between celebrating the 9th use of the same first-stage rocket and hating the pieces of space junk it’s delivering to low earth orbit.

It’s not space junk. When they’re ready to be decommissioned or they fail, the thrusters turn off and the whole thing descends into the atmosphere and burns up.

I wonder how much rare earth material will get incinerated over the next few decades with thousands of these things burning up annually. Hope we figure out space mining quick.

Re: SpaceX delivers 3rd batch of Starlink satellites in two weeks

#50

Post by echopom »

I'm really concerned about the alarms raised by Scientific in regards to "Space Pollution".[0]

Elon Musk has been dodging the question for the past years and never gave a clear answer about it aside of "Umbrella" joke...

Some astronomers are suggesting that with multiple space telecom companies ( US + EU + China ) it would potentially mean we would never be able to see space in plain sight ever. At least not without visual pollution.

[0]https://qz.com/1971751/a-flood-of-spacex-satellites-started-...

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