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SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

zdnet.com

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Re: SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

#291

Post by kylehotchkiss »

consumer451 wrote: post #5

When Starlink first became available here in poor-ish Central-EU, I was excited. Then, only months later, but after years of planning: EU funding brought fiber to my farm area, at ~$25/900mbps 10ms. While my story is just n=1, I don't understand the huge upside for Starlink outside of Africa or India, where they have However, I am dumb, and very open to be convinced.

India can lay some fiber. The secret is that every time a road gets repaved it gets dug up a week later so easy conduit pathway.

(Citation: lived in Gurugram for a few years where I witnessed the same 100ft of sidewalk get rebricked and torn up monthly at least 20 times)

Re: SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

#292

Post by N_Lens »

Fiber is just getting cheaper and cheaper, more resilient, and is faster too. Plus it has no value like copper so thieves dont steal it.

I don’t think it’s wise to pollute all of low earth orbit with Musk’s satellites, that area belongs to all of us collectively.

Re: SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

#293

Post by ioseph »

defrost wrote: post #235
vjvjvjvjghv wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't take long exposures, the satellites won't cause you much trouble seeing the stars. Regular light pollution is the problem.

Sucks for regular astronomy then, where long exposures are the norm. Equally sucks for radio astronomy where the bloody things leak into spectrums they (Starlink) pinky promised to keep clean. And successive generations have worsened the problem, again despite promises to improve.

Sucks being out bush stargazing and then seeing a massive constellation to remind you of Musk's wealth and influence. It's no longer possible to totally escape visual reminders of civilisation

Re: SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

#294

Post by dtagames »

thatxliner wrote: post #205
kevinkeller wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't understand the huge upside for Starlink outside of Africa or India, where they have India is rapidly expanding fiber internet connectivity, even in rural areas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Broadband_Network In addition, 4G/5G coverage is extensive: https://www.ookla.com/articles/india-mobile-connectivity-1h2... See India in this 5G global coverage map: https://www.ookla.com/articles/5g-map-2026 The…

Starlink is currently partnering with United Airlines for Wi-Fi coverage, so that's one thing.

Qatar just announced it's gate-to-gate and free on their aircraft.

Re: SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

#295

Post by mlindner »

consumer451 wrote: post #272
steve_adams_86 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here along the BC Coast, the organization I work for has an expansive sensor network. Weather stations, CTDs, custom equipment in watersheds, research facilities with all kinds of equipment to monitor, and so on. There is no broadband or fiber on remote islands along the coast. We used to use satellite internet, and getting data off of our main hubs (everything is relayed to the hubs by radio) was very slow and preca…

> There is no broadband or fiber on remote islands along the coast. I have family on the USA side of the islands. Kenmore Air is subsidized, but the trees are so darn tall that at many homes, Starlink is not an option. (they like the trees and use directional microwave, which sucks for Zoom)

FWIW it may be tenable now as Starlink has gotten much better at tree/obstruction avoidance in the signal and will preemptively switch the satellite it's using when an obstruction is approaching. Id check again.

Re: SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

#296

Post by Barbing »

ant6n wrote: post #283
consumer451 wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no broadband or fiber on remote islands along the coast. I have family on the USA side of the islands. Kenmore Air is subsidized, but the trees are so darn tall that at many homes, Starlink is not an option. (they like the trees and use directional microwave, which sucks for Zoom)

Can you use a pole.

Or tree mount if not [a] protected [species]

Re: SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

#297

Post by grahamburger »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #194
wmf wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many places have incompetent government that can't/won't build proper infrastructure. For example, the US has allocated around $50B for rural broadband and almost nothing has been built.

1 billion of that rural broadband funds was allocated to SpaceX, but the Biden administration revoked it in 2020. I wonder which has connected more rural Americans

I don't think you have that right; BEAD funds were not originally allowed to be awarded for technologies other than Fiber. No one had been awarded in 2020. Many ISPs had been awarded for Fiber projects by 2025, but under this administration, the NTIA changed the rules so LEO could get the funds and rug pulled the original awardees. States had to start the bidding process over under the new rules. SpaceX took home something like a billion dollars at that point (it pays to make large campaign donations, I guess!). Projects should finally get underway later this fall in most states.

Re: SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

#298

Post by abroadwin »

consumer451 wrote: post #5

When Starlink first became available here in poor-ish Central-EU, I was excited. Then, only months later, but after years of planning: EU funding brought fiber to my farm area, at ~$25/900mbps 10ms. While my story is just n=1, I don't understand the huge upside for Starlink outside of Africa or India, where they have However, I am dumb, and very open to be convinced.

I live in an area of the US where the only alternatives are 3.5 megabit DSL which stops working when it rains or Hughesnet, so basically no real competition at all.

Re: SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

#299

Post by dtagames »

afavour wrote: post #247
consumer451 wrote: post #5

When Starlink first became available here in poor-ish Central-EU, I was excited. Then, only months later, but after years of planning: EU funding brought fiber to my farm area, at ~$25/900mbps 10ms. While my story is just n=1, I don't understand the huge upside for Starlink outside of Africa or India, where they have However, I am dumb, and very open to be convinced.

I think that while Starlink is a technical innovation its primary benefit is as a political innovation: it lets you sidestep a lot of politics. Rural communities in the US should have high speed internet, just like efforts were made to give them electricity back in the day. But the layers of politics and dysfunction in the way are deep.

If we can get internet from the sky, it's hard to justify digging up the earth with cables for the same thing.

I realize Space X "pollutes" space and astronomy is also important, but it's not more important than communications and information for people on earth.

Re: SpaceX wants to launch 100k more Starlink satellites for 100x the bandwidth

#300

Post by Rohansi »

N_Lens wrote: post #292

Fiber is just getting cheaper and cheaper, more resilient, and is faster too. Plus it has no value like copper so thieves dont steal it. I don’t think it’s wise to pollute all of low earth orbit with Musk’s satellites, that area belongs to all of us collectively.

I think the main goal is direct to phones rather than being an alternative to fiber. But it's also a very good option for people living in rural areas with poor service (shoddy DSL).
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