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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

#181

Post by rb666 »

ShockedUnicorn wrote: post #110

For the people talking about space pollution and problems for astronomers. Yes, it is definitely an issue, but this constellation is also a way for many people to have access to education and information that will help them and their community. If you're curious about both the positives and negatives of Starlink I highly recommend the mini documentary "Is this the END of Astronomy?" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=…

Wind turbines do not kill many birds, that is a myth pushed by climate hoaxers.

They have their drawbacks, but that aint one of 'em.

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

#182

Post by agency »

aero-glide2 wrote: post #133
agency wrote: post #2

As someone stuck on old (HughesNet) satellite internet and waiting on my Starlink pre-order, this is great news. I didn’t get into the beta sadly, though I was signed up and in the eligibility area since day 1.

Did you sign up for the $99 deposit which puts you in the queue?

Yep, did so the day I was able to. I was pretty bummed not to get into the beta, especially after torturing myself by periodically checking /r/Starlink which was just wall-to-wall posts of people celebrating their invites. Just glad to have a spot in line at this point.

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

#183

Post by arcticfox »

martin8412 wrote: post #156
BurningFrog wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starlink should make tons of money soon. These launch costs are investments.

They won't.. It's a product that's only remotely viable in remote locations. So Australia, Canada and US. Most of the rest of the world has no need for it

Seriously? Unless Europe is "most of the world", I think you're quite mistaken.

Join me in rural Brazil, for example!

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

#186

Post by yakz »

mabbo wrote: post #136

Worth also pointing out: That's the 9th flight of Booster 1051. And it had a perfect landing. The goal of this design of Falcon 9 is to handle 10 flights with minimum refurbishment. Right now, it looks like they're within a couple months of achieving that goal for the first time, with booster 1049 close as well, at 8 flights. SpaceX is soon going to reach a point that they don't need to build more Falcon 9 boosters.

Wouldn’t they want to continue building them to some extent just so they don’t lose the institutional knowledge of how to build them? Or is the expectation that Starship will render it obsolete soon enough?

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

#187

Post by KingMachiavelli »

easton wrote: post #107
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?

Starlink already said they will comply with whatever is needed from a specific government, including selling through local resellers and routing through things like the GFW. It’s not designed for censorship resistance, the only real way around it would be to get a foreign dishy/modem.

I would be surprised if it was that simple. Countries like Russia and China are going to want a very visible method of knowing whether a given ground dish is the normal version or their countries specific version. Anything that is just cosmetic would be too simple to fake. The biggest problem is that if any other entity controls the satellites themselves; they could turn routing the the GFW on and off which would be a huge security risk for these countries. (i.e western countries pressure Starlink to turn GFW routing off).

I wouldn't be surprised if China just started their own state sponsored low orbit satellite internet.

Another decent, cheaper middle ground would be operating just the 'first-hop' satellites that ground units communicate with and adjusting the technology such that the dish units used in china are substantially different in terms of the actual RF. Then these China run satellites enforce the GFW and then route traffic to Starlink and other 'non-china' satellites.

The biggest downside I see to that setup is that this satellite technology has to in a non-geostationary orbit which means you need a lot more satellites to get 24 hour coverage in a specific location. This isn't a problem if you want to provide service to the entire planet but for country specific networks; the extra satellites are a bit redundant.

The even safer option is to make running a ground dish itself a government enterprise. Private/non-state ownership remains illegal but the state uses Starlink et al. as just another backbone in their state network. This is probably the most likely since it is far simpler to integrate and control.

Starlink's stance on the issue is probably enough to satisfy countries like the UK that have some unique internet laws but are still satisfied with using the normal western legal process to enforce their needs.

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

#188

Post by sangnoir »

zizee wrote: post #127
jiveturkey wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you only have to jam it

Or arrest people that are using easily detectable satellite dishes.

All satellite dishes are easily detectable when they are in operation - they have to transmit RF radiation which can be detected and pinpointed to source anywhere from low-altitude all the way up to space. Anyone of a certain age who lived in a country that required TV licenses remembers the enforcement trucks that would detect RF emissions from vacuum-tube TV sets using directional antennae.

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

#189

Post by kjrose »

Malician wrote: post #171
kjrose wrote: post #168

Could someone explain to me how/if this resolves the speed issues that all satellite internet has had since its inception.

it's a few hundred miles up instead of 22,300. this means that it's not geostationary and you gotta switch your dish between satellites often as they go overhead, but latency is far lower.

Ok, that would make a huge difference. the biggest argument I"ve made against this with people is simply that the latency would be terrible (and it's still not great), but it's a helluva lot better than 22.3k.

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

#190

Post by tidepod12 »

cbozeman wrote: post #102
tidepod12 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple points: 1) 1200 is a small percentage of the tens of thousands of satellites that the full system, plus the other similar systems will eventually consist of. 2) Being able to go outside and point out a satellite has absolutely no relevance on the satellite's impact on professional astronomy. 3) It did not "seem to have worked". SpaceX experimented with reducing the reflectivity of their satellites, but only…

Yeah, and what's going to advance humanity as a whole more significantly, I wonder... high-speed Internet access for the entire planet... or professional astronomers not being able to see into space as easily as they did 20 years ago? or... Or... OR... Launching massive powerful telescopes into space using SpaceX rockets for professional astronomers to use?

I have no idea who you're addressing. If it's me, that's quite a nice strawman you've built. Next time perhaps try to actually address the words written in my comment rather than inventing some boogeyman that nobody brought up except you.

Here, I'll demonstrate:

>high-speed Internet access for the entire planet

Musk himself has said that only a tiny, tiny fraction of the world will ever be able to use Starlink. It is not anywhere close to "internet access for the entire planet", and certainly isn't providing any more internet access than is already provided by existing satellite internet providers.

>or professional astronomers not being able to see into space as easily as they did 20 years ago?

In case you weren't aware, astronomy is responsible for some of the most significant scientific advancements since for literally millennia. If you really want an answer to your questions, it's this: professional astronomers being prevented from doing research is significantly more of a negative impact to humanity's advancement than the positive impact from 0.001% of the world having access to lower ping internet. It's not even close.

>or... Or... OR... Launching massive powerful telescopes into space using SpaceX rockets for professional astronomers to use?

Even with something the size of Starship, it's physically impossible to launch anything even remotely close to the size of telescopes needed by professional astronomers.

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