US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink
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Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink
#2The FCC cited among its reasons SpaceX's failure to successfully launch its Starship rocket, saying "the uncertain nature of Starship's future launches could impact Starlink's ability to meet" its obligations.
Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink
#3Any deeper analysis on why? I doubt it's a Biden-Harris admin retaliation against elon.
Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink
#4How about they regulate low orbit megaconstellations instead of allowing them to pollute the sky?
Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink
#5How about they regulate low orbit megaconstellations instead of allowing them to pollute the sky?
My eyes nearly roll out of my head every time I see someone complain about this. People act like astronomy is ruined forever, it's not. You can predict where the satellites are going to be and avoid them. They're not even a problem for large portions of the night and sky at all because there's very little light for them to reflect. There are a lot of benefits to having a constellation like this, and the tech that's being developed to support it will advance astronomy.
Is it perfect? No. Is musk being an asshole about it? Probably, haven't checked. Are the people complaining about it mostly NIMBYs who care largely because Musk has a (deserved) bad rap? Yes, absolutely.
This is a very marginal issue, folks need to calm down.
Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink
#6The FCC cited among its reasons SpaceX's failure to successfully launch its Starship rocket, saying "the uncertain nature of Starship's future launches could impact Starlink's ability to meet" its obligations.
If there was any doubt this was purely political, that quote erases it.
The FCC rural broadband program is an infamous boondoggle of vast overspending on bad services from third rate providers.
It's insane that they even mentioned Starship in this, when it was a test launch of the largest rocket in history, and has nothing to do with the Starlink launches.
Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink
#7Well at least it can now be confidently state that Starlink was developed entirely with private funding.
I do hope that the companies that do get it are providing proper fiber service though rather than the many many years of companies who were way slower than Starlink getting it.
Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink
#8How about they regulate low orbit megaconstellations instead of allowing them to pollute the sky?
My eyes nearly roll out of my head every time I see someone complain about this. People act like astronomy is ruined forever, it's not. You can predict where the satellites are going to be and avoid them. They're not even a problem for large portions of the night and sky at all because there's very little light for them to reflect. There are a lot of benefits to having a constellation like this, and the tech that's b…
> This is a very marginal issue, folks need to calm down.
Is it? Why do we need to visually see, basically permanently, a ring or string of lights in the sky, unwittingly, just because of some billionaire?
> You can predict where the satellites are going to be and avoid them.
That doesn't make sense. It doesn't matter if you know where they're at if they're in your way. Telescope time is extremely precious and expensive. Not to mention, these megaconstellations have basically permanently increased the background noise in various spectrums. Not all astronomy uses the visual spectrum.
> They're not even a problem for large portions of the night and sky at all because there's very little light for them to reflect.
That's not true. You can see them with your own eyes.
Your eyes can roll all they want. It doesn't make the problem go away.
Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink
#9The FCC cited among its reasons SpaceX's failure to successfully launch its Starship rocket, saying "the uncertain nature of Starship's future launches could impact Starlink's ability to meet" its obligations.
If there was any doubt this was purely political, that quote erases it. The FCC rural broadband program is an infamous boondoggle of vast overspending on bad services from third rate providers. It's insane that they even mentioned Starship in this, when it was a test launch of the largest rocket in history, and has nothing to do with the Starlink launches.
As much as I really despise just about everything adjacent to musk, I think you’re right. Wtf does starship have to do with starlink.
Re: US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for Starlink
#10Why should the taxpayer subsidize a business run by one of the world’s richest men?