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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

#501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But there are a few places that will need Starlink, like planes, cruise ships, and islands. I'm just not sure if that will justify that $1T valuation. There's also drones and front-line trenches, but your point still stands.

And for that reason the EU, India, China and Russia will build their own Starlink alternatives. To offset costs they'll then provide it for civilian use, competing with Starlink in the above areas.

>And for that reason the EU, India, China and Russia will build their own Starlink alternatives.

I don't know about the rest, but Russia started working on its own Starlink well before the war. We have the North and Siberia where satellite internet is the only option. Another target market is Russian Railways which would love to have internet in the trains not only when they pass areas with mobile coverage.

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

#502

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…

We’ll how that prediction turns out… My informed opinion says that you are wildly wrong. (Also don’t forget the Starlink related military contracts that SpaceX has.)

We already have Starlink. Starlink only has 10 Million customers.

Starlink increased prices just a fwe weeks ago.

So whats stoping the future starlink explosion?

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

#503

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s a very reductionist and dismissive take. Also it’s rude. I’m an occasional astrophotographer, and the baseline of photos you can took are absolutely breathtaking now. Seeing this destroyed in real time is depressing. I used to see a rare flyby of a satellite in the complete dark, but now it’s much more, and besides my personal annoyance, many people much more serious about sky and space are rightfully angry. M…

The post he was replying to is the reductionist and dismissive take. And yes progress is good progress.

> And yes progress is good progress.

Many weapons designers thought they were making war “more humane” by creating weapons that killed faster and more decisively.

Haber, on chemical warfare: “The gas weapons are not at all more cruel than the flying iron pieces; on the contrary, the fraction of fatal gas diseases is comparatively smaller, the mutilations are missing.”

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

#504
post #361

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]

I guess the Montreal Protocol was "degrowth talk" for you too, huh?

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

#505

I can't wait until this junk starts to collide and blocks us from making any space flights. This has to happen and probability grows with the square of the number of orbiting satellites.

People seem to have a poor understanding of just how much space there is up there. It's just very empty up there. And these things are in precisely controlled orbits that are well documented, etc. Even if you simplify your thinking of orbits to a 2D (square area), it's a lot of space. But that would be a mistake of course. Low earth orbit is three dimensional. Star Link uses several altitude bands of about 20-30km ea…

> Even if you simplify your thinking of orbits to a 2D (square area), it's a lot of space.

This is not a spatial problem. It's an intersectionality problem.

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

#506

I have started to see what I think are star link satellites at night on walks with my kids. It actually makes me sad to see that on person owns the night sky and is changing the literal stars my kids will grow up with. It feels different when it’s the government that theoretically represents people but when it’s one person that feels truly depressing.

[flagged]

Dude, are you okay?

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

#507

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 a major Indian city and 1 gig fiber up and down is $30. We've also got really good 4G/5G in most places. Also in the super remote areas WiMAX is (still) an option.

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

#508

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 accounted for 69% of SpaceX revenue pre-merger and is speculated to be already profitable including launch costs. And this is all before they launch a phone or something, or replace global fiber interconnect with a lower latency space-based alternative, replace all forms of space based telecommunications (TV, Satellite Radio, etc). Starlink is a $1T+ business without even getting creative.

Yeah but it doesn't become a Trillion dollar business if they don't solve the Starlink Satelite v3 issue.

They need Starship to be able to send v3 up, without v3 it doesn't scale well enough.

Starship still hasn't proven it can actually bring up the relevant payload high enough and they need it to be reusable otherwise costs will increase.

And they already exist and only have 10 Million customers. They need to get countries on their side like India but these countries are not stupid. Elon Musk showed them very clearly what he can do like his statements he did when Ukraine war started.

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

#509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We’ll how that prediction turns out… My informed opinion says that you are wildly wrong. (Also don’t forget the Starlink related military contracts that SpaceX has.)

We already have Starlink. Starlink only has 10 Million customers. Starlink increased prices just a fwe weeks ago. So whats stoping the future starlink explosion?

> what[']s stop[p]ing the future Starlink explosion?

Constellation numbers are still below the Kessler syndrome threshold?

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

#510

I read that by syncing up several space telescopes, astronomers can use something called interferometry to make them work together as one large telescope. I wonder it's possible for Starlink to attach small telescopes on each of these satellites, and if so, if this could lead to a massive PR win for them and a science win for humanity, while at the same time helping to combat any genuine concerns from the public abou…

It's not physically impossible. But the engineering reality isn't promising.

You'd need micro-meter alignment accuracy across the constellation for optical observation. For radio observation it might be possible - but I'm not sure if it would be useful.

Launching complimentary ordinary space-telescopes would also be good PR.

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