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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

#821

Post by pyrale »

throwthrowuknow wrote: post #552
ben_w wrote: post #532

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their brightness is a mixture of a lot of things, including the huge PV arrays and the angle they have with the sun when they cross the terminator between night and day. Starlink have already put a lot of effort into their satellites being much less bright than most satellites, including tilting their PV away from earth during the terminator crossing, so from what I've read you'll mainly see them while they're being…

Would the “datacenter” satellites be much larger? I thought each of them was only going to carry a rack or a cabinet worth of GPUs?

They would be as large as your average hyperloop capsule.

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

#822

Post by bmitc »

digitaltrees wrote: post #379

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.

I feel the exact same way after I saw a Starlink line flying over. It made me feel like any sci-fi movie where your entire environment has been purchased and is controlled by corporations. It was a sad feeling knowing even the sky has been claimed by someone now with zero repercussions.

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

#823

Post by bmitc »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #578
digitaltrees wrote: post #379

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.

Change is inevitable. I love seeing artificial objects in space, because it shows that we, humanity, are finally getting there. Elon doesn't own space, he just happens to be the one who is currently best at making it reachable. There is plenty of space for everyone else, and others will get there, eventually. I could eat myself up with envy over the money he's making from it... or be glad that it's at least someone g…

Getting where, exactly?

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

#824

Post by le-mark »

stringfood wrote: post #701
rayiner wrote: post #694

A couple of billion people are doing to join the global middle class over the coming decades. They don’t have pre-existing cable and phone networks that have been in the ground for 50+ years they can incrementally upgrade to broadband. Rich countries spend trillions getting to the point where most people have some sort of wired broadband option. If newly middle income countries want to pursue the same route, it will…

but is providing access to internet for billions of people worth not being able to see the big dipper as clearly at night? I say yes, but only just barely

What percentage of humans are urban dwelling and don’t even see the stars at night? Related there aren’t many places on earth where you can still see the Milky Way. In that way a similar trade off has been made with no forethought whatsoever. Should this time be different? I think so.

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

#825

Post by pyrale »

jraby3 wrote: post #461
stevep98 wrote: post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This is the right answer. They are building their own cell phone network to compete with major carriers worldwide.

> to compete with major carriers worldwide.

I don't see a reason why countries with existing carriers would allow that, given the owner's stance about political meddling.

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

#826

Post by petilon »

haakon wrote: post #811
digitaltrees wrote: post #379

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.

> It actually makes me sad to see that on person owns the night sky SpaceX has many owners, especially post-IPO. You, too, can buy the sky and sell the sky.

SpaceX has many investors, not owners. If you don't have any say in how the company is run you're not an owner.

SpaceX utilizes a dual-class share structure where CEO Elon Musk retains between 82.4% and 85% of the total voting power, despite only owning roughly 42% of the company's actual equity.

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

#827

Post by scotty79 »

digitaltrees wrote: post #379

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.

Money is also a voting system. He can decide those things only because people voted for him with their money. The issue is, not everybody has same voting power in this system. But then again people who have more power were voted for previously by others. So it's kind of representative democracy.

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

#828

Post by rglullis »

ilikehurdles wrote: post #791
rglullis wrote: post #778

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't need to have space literally transformed into junkyards to make progress, and there is nothing going wrong with going a lower pace if it means reduced impact on the rest of society.

Your focus should be on junkyards on earth, which are exponentially greater in number on a surface area that is a fraction of the surface area of observable space. You’re complaining about a potentially artificial speck of light in the sky while plastic litters the highway you commute on, and India produces literal rivers of trash.

Orthogonal issues. Will the trash on earth be reduced if we start littering low orbit with junk?

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

#829

Post by pixelatedindex »

agys wrote: post #702
franciscop wrote: post #610

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel that way about street advertising, beautiful European cities with historical buildings all around and suddenly a big screen/panel asking you to buy whatever.

São Paulo: Cidade Limpa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cidade_Limpa

> And there was a lot of billboards in front of these manufacturers' shops. And when they uncovered, we could see through the window a lot of Bolivian people like sleeping and working at the same place. They earn money, just enough for food. So it is a big social problem that was uncovered, and the city was shocked by these news.

Wow it’s like when I move some pieces of wood or other items near my shed outdoors and I see a bunch of activity that I never knew existed.

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

#830

Post by petilon »

It is very important for an unstable/eccentric person like Elon Musk to be the new AOL and "own the internet", which is what could happen if he launches 100k satellites. Elon Musk will use his power to make political decisions.

Musk has acknowledged withholding Starlink Service to thwart Ukrainian attack on Russia. Musk had conversations with a Russian official that led him to worry that an attack on Crimea could spiral into a nuclear conflict, so he made the decision to thwart Ukraine.

Right or not, such decisions should be made by elected representatives, not an eccentric trillionaire.

I am rooting for Blue Origin's Terawave: https://www.blueorigin.com/terawave

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