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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

#441

Post by mrtksn »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #431
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.

How much did EU taxpayers spend to make that possible?

Very little, EU budget is minuscule - something like 500 euros per person per year.

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

#442

Post by defrost »

hulitu wrote: post #440

> 100k more – for 100x the bandwidth I guess some things do not scale. The only thing that humans are good producing, is garbage.

Think of it less as a comms system with a small increase in bandwidth, and more as a radar system with a larger increase in resolution.

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbp3kdJZ1_A

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

#443

Post by AgentK20 »

runako wrote: post #422

My understanding is that Starlink can only service ~6-7 houses per square mile today. The US is ~95/sq. mile on average. 80% of Americans live in "cities." Anchorage metro is ~15/sq. mile; Yuma, AZ is ~36. The Nashville metro is ~250. Also, Starlink satellites spend ~70% of their time over the ocean. This will impact the utilization ratio of their gear and force them to launch still more satellites.

Simultaneously though, those 80% of Americans that live in cities/within the typical commuting distance of a metropolitan area are also the ones that are usually serviced by at least one broadband or fiber provider. Because of this:

- Having slowly-increasing pressure on those often-monopoly broadband/fiber carriers because people have the option to swap to Starlink, adds competitive pressure for them to improve their service, reduce prices, etc

- The remaining 20% of the population that lives on the 60-80%+ of the land who currently have terrible options, but fit well within the density restrictions of current-gen Starlink satelites, suddenly have options

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

#444

Post by stevep98 »

kevinkeller wrote: post #155
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 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…

Global cellular operator revenue is approx $1T. They have put their toe in the water with direct-to-cellular support for starlink, and have bought spectrum to improve this. I'm sure they basically want to offer cellular to everyone in the world and get a good chunk of that $1T. Maybe they want 20% of it? Sounds crazy, but China Mobile, Verizon, and Deutsche Telecom each have 10%. Sounds it's not so wild that they can grab a big chunk, especially if they can find new customers that are not already connected.

And of course they can also continue to grow their broadband internet access business.

I suppose they will likely start putting cameras and other data sensors on the satellites so they can sell other data for mapping, positioning services, agriculture, weather, etc. The incremental cost to add this to the platform will be almost nothing compared to existing systems.

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

#445

Post by mercutio2 »

Natfan wrote: post #415
tticvs wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

until the kessler effect traps is on this ever-heating rock

LEO is not the place to worry about Kessler syndrome.

Mostly, Kessler syndrome isn’t something to worry about at all; there are just a lot of orbital planes available. But in LEO, the mechanics don’t even apply.

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

#446

Post by petterroea »

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.

Starlink has its uses, but I really don't understand those who get starlink while living in built-up areas.

Starlink is just a re-skin of the "Wireless optic" thing a lot of ISPs are pushing because they would prefer not having to lay cables and instead have everyone use 5g routers. Of course, the service isn't comparable, but regular people don't necessarily know it. Fiberoptic is still king, and probably will be for a long time.

There's nothing comparable to direct fiberoptic cable, and anyone who says otherwise immediately outs themselves as being a sellout or having anti-consumer motives. In 100 years it may be different, but I'm probably not going to be around in 100 years, so...

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

#447

Post by mparramon »

maipen wrote: post #361
baranul wrote: post #347

At what point are people going to have a conversation about all the pollution and the consequences of so many satellites burning up (metals and other toxic stuff) in the atmosphere and fragments falling wherever. 100k... how much can we keep putting up and let keep falling around the world? Multiple other companies and countries want to do the same as SpaceX.

[flagged]

Absolutely. Degrowith is the guilt-fueled poverty mind virus.

Abundance, friends. Nothing stops us.

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

#448

Post by youngtaff »

tyre wrote: post #350
rurp wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, and that's great, but this is an extremely small niche case right? No one is denying that there are some cases where Starlink is amazing, but niche products don't usually command a $1T value.

If you read the SpaceX IPO docs, the vast majority of their self-stated addressable market is AI enterprise SaaS tools. I’m not joking.

And they claimed their TAM was 20% of world GDP!!!

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

#449

Post by mparramon »

diddid wrote: post #180

I think the end game is convenience. Nobody really needs anything more than 200mb/s. If the average person can have their entire family stream their favorite Netflix show at the same time then that’s good enough. “Now lil Jimmy can watch it in the minivan too!”

>Nobody will ever need more than 640k of RAM
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