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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

#51
post #14

am i the only person thinking that there should be laws to prevent rich individuals to increase the mass in LEO by a factor 10 in less than 10 years? i understand the enthusiasm but shouldn't these decisions let to the people, countries, for instance an intergouvernemental agency. also: is the dark coating working? without it those are quite visible, and make radio and optical astronomy much harder (especially large…

I mean, they had to apply for a license to do it, and it was granted.

by whom? the FCC. i live in switzerland, does USA own LEO?

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

#52
post #50

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…

I can't wake up and see the world without loads of buildings and roads and cars in sight either.

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

#53
post #50

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…

If you know the position of the satellites it's very easy to mitigate their effect.

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

#54
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?

I imagine China will apply pressure to the company/officers. If that fails, they will track RF emissions and disappear users. If that fails, they will start RF jamming. If that fails, accidents in space.

More interesting than China though are regional communications shutdowns. Will India be able to turn off communications in Kashmir? Will various countries be able to turn off the internet on national school entrance exam days? Will democracies for show be able to turn off the internet when the votes aren't as expected?

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

#55
post #50

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…

SpaceX has put in a lot of effort to reduce the visual pollution aspect of starlink.

See https://twitter.com/ralfvandebergh/status/136999054076322611... for how the visibility of Starlink sats has changed over time.

For professional earth based astronomy, it is possible to remove the streaks digitally. But of course there is a slight impact. But what is the alternative? Just stop development of low earth orbit forever?

The future of professional astronomy is space based. Imagine what a telescope you can launch with a single starship launch...

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

#56
post #50

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…

Surely they will only be visible a short time before sunrise or after sunset, when the satellite can see both you and the sun?

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

#57
post #50

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…

There are already 1200 of them in orbit, can you go outside and point at a single one?

When this controversy was started they addressed concerns by reducing the satellites reflectance and it seems to have worked.

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

#58

So where is Amazon in relation to all of this? I got pinged by a recruiter from Kuiper the other week and all I can see is that there's no way they're on track to be working in 5 years. They don't even have a stable launch platform. Would Musk sell Bezos the ride?

I think SpaceX would sell them launches.

First of all, why wouldn't they? They are confident that their satellite tech is superior.

And second, SpaceX is dominating the commercial launch market to such a degree that they would run into antitrust issues if they were to use their launch dominance for antocompetitive behaviour.

But Bezos would probably be too proud to launch on SpaceX...

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

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Turning one satellite into a cloud of debris would suffice, Kessler syndrome would do the rest.

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

#60
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?

I've been torrenting plenty of... perfectly legal data over my Starlink connection, I have yet to hear anything from Elon's folks.
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