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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

#271

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=…

Sure, but don't forget SpaceX is a for-profit organization.

Which is exactly why they’ve been so successful. Capitalism proves effective yet again.

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

#272
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Concerns like this are why I think he considered taking it private again. He can personally not give a fuck and decide to pull out of China anytime, but being a public company and “acting in shareholder’s interests” might get in the way of ethics...

Wait, are you implying Musk would move out of China, but the shareholders would want him to stay? You do realize he's done nothing but praise China right? Let alone that much of Tesla's funding would dry up if he "went private".

The reality distortion field around musk is insane...

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

#273
post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I understand people panicking about this, but lets cool your horses a bit. First of all, SpaceX will not sell Firewall circumvention in China. They are an ISP and need to follow the rules if they want to officially sell there. Second, even if somehow people got terminals and try to use them, SpaceX could block them. And even if they didn't, the government could locate these people, relativity easily. Third, even if y…

International issue???? I think you overestimate how much people care about a tiny luxury car maker...

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

#274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yeah, apparently just paint one rotor blade differently to make it stand out and birds will stay clear [1] The study you're citing was only studied 4 wind turbines, while the evidence does point towards this working, I wouldn't say that the existing evidence is conclusive. Also, the turbines with the darker blades still killed birds, just less bird than the turbines with standard blades.

Wind turbines don't kill enough birds to be more than a drop in the dead-bird bucket. It's a talking point used by people who were looking for reasons to be against wind turbines, but housecats kill four orders of magnitudes- not 4x, 10,000x- more birds each year. The percent of human-caused bird deaths due to wind turbines is smaller than the percent of Americans dying in airplane crashes each year, compared to all…

Well judging from your comment it's going to be hard to get your default attitude to change on this. What would change your mind? A popular mechanics article? https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a247495...

Turbines are bad for birds. Period.

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

#275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And cats kill even more than building apparently. Screw cats, or rather people who let them roam free.

Why exactly is it a problem with cats killing birds? All sorts of animals kill all sorts of animals. Why are you specifically bothered by this pairing?

Because these are often invasive animals supported by people destroying endangered animals.

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

#276
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The actual latency starlink customers are getting is on par with wired ISPs, and has the potential to be lower than ground based links once they add satellite to satellite laser links.

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

#277

Starlink is SpaceX's way of guaranteeing SpaceX has a launch client. It increases the number of launches they make, and drives down the cost per launch, both for themselves and for their other customers. They are creating a business model which is both profitable and drives profits to their launch business. This is similar to the synergy Amazon's online store and AWS have with each other. If SpaceX has room on a laun…

If they have empty space on payloads they also sell it for a (very reasonable) 1 million USD.

https://youtu.be/DB1Aii8NoC0

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

#278

Starlink is SpaceX's way of guaranteeing SpaceX has a launch client. It increases the number of launches they make, and drives down the cost per launch, both for themselves and for their other customers. They are creating a business model which is both profitable and drives profits to their launch business. This is similar to the synergy Amazon's online store and AWS have with each other. If SpaceX has room on a laun…

Yes, and they reuse the rockets more often than they would do with just external customers while proving to them that it's safe to use the same rockets uo to 10 times. I love how undoectacular their flights have become, and wonder how long it will take until they stop commenting their live streams. I still watch them, but I started to skip forward or just listen to it in the background while programming.

> undoectacular

Your typo of `unspectacular` is almost as spectacular as a Starlink mission has become.

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

#279
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, apparently just paint one rotor blade differently to make it stand out and birds will stay clear [1] Maybe Starlink constellations will be an incentive to finish the JWT, and other space telescopes... [1] https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/black-paint-on-wind-...

> Yeah, apparently just paint one rotor blade differently to make it stand out and birds will stay clear [1] The study you're citing was only studied 4 wind turbines, while the evidence does point towards this working, I wouldn't say that the existing evidence is conclusive. Also, the turbines with the darker blades still killed birds, just less bird than the turbines with standard blades.

So, paint is cheap. Its not like we're talking a multimillion dollar mitigation. Lets paint some turbines and see what happens.

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

#280
post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand people panicking about this, but lets cool your horses a bit. First of all, SpaceX will not sell Firewall circumvention in China. They are an ISP and need to follow the rules if they want to officially sell there. Second, even if somehow people got terminals and try to use them, SpaceX could block them. And even if they didn't, the government could locate these people, relativity easily. Third, even if y…

International issue???? I think you overestimate how much people care about a tiny luxury car maker...

Tesla is literally the largest selling EV maker in China.

And if CCP simply starts attacking foreign auto-maker based on pretences based on pretences. Then the US have a significant interest in paying back China auto and battery makers in equal measure. And European car makers and companies also have to seriously ask them-selves when its gone happen to them.

The deals about how the car market is set up, is being made between countries and are part of international agreements.

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