Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources • Hacker News Board

Re: Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources

#11

Post by jpatokal » Thu, Nov 01, 2018, 3:37 AM UTC

walrus01 wrote: post #10

jpatokal wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and Iridium famously resulted in the largest US bankruptcy ever, nine months after launch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_Communications#History Initial investment ~$6B, sold to US gov't for $25m. Here's hoping Spacex has better luck.

Yes, and the successor corporation of Iridium which bought it out of bankruptcy, and renamed itself to Iridium, has been wildly successful in the maritime, government, aviation, exploration/expedition, military markets. Which is where having a 2400 to 3600 baud (or voice and SMS) service that functions literally anywhere on the planet, pole to pole, is a highly desirable service. The original 1998-2000 marketing mate…

Wildly successful after $6b in debt was written off, and only in a small (but profitable) niche, not the originally envisioned mass market. I know it sounds ridiculous now, but the original plan for Iridium was to replace that traveling exec's GSM phone, with the expectation that handset size & pricing would drop as the service grew.

Re: Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources

#12

Post by nemo44x » Thu, Nov 01, 2018, 3:42 AM UTC

I'm amazed how little coverage Starlink, OneWeb, etc get. It's the next revolution and the most important tech since the smart phone.

Think about the great firewall of China. It's dead after this. Having a cell provider and home internet provider. Gone. Poor bandwidth anywhere on Earth - a thing of the past. This is important and huge.

Buy rural property that is undeveloped. In 10 years time you'll be able to power it with solar and battery arrays and connect it with these satellites. A self driving carriage will deliver whatever goods you need the same day. Water is a well away and a septic tank isn't difficult to build.

Re: Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources

#13

Post by IBM » Thu, Nov 01, 2018, 3:52 AM UTC

nemo44x wrote: post #12

I'm amazed how little coverage Starlink, OneWeb, etc get. It's the next revolution and the most important tech since the smart phone. Think about the great firewall of China. It's dead after this. Having a cell provider and home internet provider. Gone. Poor bandwidth anywhere on Earth - a thing of the past. This is important and huge. Buy rural property that is undeveloped. In 10 years time you'll be able to power i…

How would it do anything about the great firewall? All of these services will need their regulatory approval to operate there.

Also China has an anti-satellite missile program.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASAT_program_of_China

Re: Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources

#14

Post by burfog » Thu, Nov 01, 2018, 4:08 AM UTC

nemo44x wrote: post #12

I'm amazed how little coverage Starlink, OneWeb, etc get. It's the next revolution and the most important tech since the smart phone. Think about the great firewall of China. It's dead after this. Having a cell provider and home internet provider. Gone. Poor bandwidth anywhere on Earth - a thing of the past. This is important and huge. Buy rural property that is undeveloped. In 10 years time you'll be able to power i…

Iridium didn't escape national regulations. Why would this?

If this system is to be operable in China, an agreement must be reached. That might mean a firewall for all people in China, all Chinese citizens everywhere, or both.

Operating without permission from China would generate a complaint to the USA. The USA is obligated to enforce international RF restrictions on satellites operated by US companies.

Re: Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources

#15

Post by bluejekyll » Thu, Nov 01, 2018, 4:08 AM UTC

nemo44x wrote: post #12

I'm amazed how little coverage Starlink, OneWeb, etc get. It's the next revolution and the most important tech since the smart phone. Think about the great firewall of China. It's dead after this. Having a cell provider and home internet provider. Gone. Poor bandwidth anywhere on Earth - a thing of the past. This is important and huge. Buy rural property that is undeveloped. In 10 years time you'll be able to power i…

That’s a beautiful vision of the future. But I’m pretty sure convincing my family to go live without human contact, might be difficult.

Some people can be alone, but most of us actually enjoy the company of friends and family.

Re: Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources

#16

Post by hendry » Thu, Nov 01, 2018, 4:13 AM UTC

nemo44x wrote: post #12

I'm amazed how little coverage Starlink, OneWeb, etc get. It's the next revolution and the most important tech since the smart phone. Think about the great firewall of China. It's dead after this. Having a cell provider and home internet provider. Gone. Poor bandwidth anywhere on Earth - a thing of the past. This is important and huge. Buy rural property that is undeveloped. In 10 years time you'll be able to power i…

Good bandwidth and terrible latency is satellite Internet

Re: Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources

#17

Post by muthdra » Thu, Nov 01, 2018, 4:16 AM UTC

bluejekyll wrote: post #15

nemo44x wrote: post #12

I'm amazed how little coverage Starlink, OneWeb, etc get. It's the next revolution and the most important tech since the smart phone. Think about the great firewall of China. It's dead after this. Having a cell provider and home internet provider. Gone. Poor bandwidth anywhere on Earth - a thing of the past. This is important and huge. Buy rural property that is undeveloped. In 10 years time you'll be able to power i…

That’s a beautiful vision of the future. But I’m pretty sure convincing my family to go live without human contact, might be difficult. Some people can be alone, but most of us actually enjoy the company of friends and family.

There's always been explorers. It's biology.

Re: Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources

#18

Post by Cogito » Thu, Nov 01, 2018, 4:19 AM UTC

hendry wrote: post #16

nemo44x wrote: post #12

I'm amazed how little coverage Starlink, OneWeb, etc get. It's the next revolution and the most important tech since the smart phone. Think about the great firewall of China. It's dead after this. Having a cell provider and home internet provider. Gone. Poor bandwidth anywhere on Earth - a thing of the past. This is important and huge. Buy rural property that is undeveloped. In 10 years time you'll be able to power i…

Good bandwidth and terrible latency is satellite Internet

Not sure which bit you're replying to, but with this constellation latency is expected to be I've heard reports of the test satellites achieving 25 ms, but haven't found a source yet.

The reason of course is that these satellites are in low earth orbit, so only a few 100 km away, rather than geostationary orbit like most internet satellites that are at 35 000 km away

Re: Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources

#19

Post by throwawayinside » Thu, Nov 01, 2018, 4:25 AM UTC

nemo44x wrote: post #12

I'm amazed how little coverage Starlink, OneWeb, etc get. It's the next revolution and the most important tech since the smart phone. Think about the great firewall of China. It's dead after this. Having a cell provider and home internet provider. Gone. Poor bandwidth anywhere on Earth - a thing of the past. This is important and huge. Buy rural property that is undeveloped. In 10 years time you'll be able to power i…

This seems like one of those mundane-seeming posts that you later look back on, and realize someone accidentally predicted the reason the US and China started World War 3.

Or maybe China just keeps really, really close tabs on what goes in and out of the country, and having a receiver is immediate grounds for re-education.

Re: Musk shakes up SpaceX in race to make satellite launch window: sources

#20

Post by st8675309 » Thu, Nov 01, 2018, 4:32 AM UTC

walrus01 wrote: post #5

Starlink is highly ambitious. What they're trying to do is basically a miniature version of the o3b network MEO architecture, where every CPE terminal needs to track two satellites simultaneously. The difference is that an o3b terminal starts from about $30,000 , they're trying to build something with a CPE cost under $700. This is literally a "has never been done before" satellite communications challenge. The only…

I love jargon heavy posts. I just dropped an hour learning about o3b, MEO, CPE, low earth orbit, data rates. This kind of googling leads to new hobby pursuits and some times new career thinking.