Real-time map of every Starlink satellite in orbit

Post by kube-system » Mon, Mar 25, 2024, 5:35 PM UTC

mikro2nd wrote: post #78

danw1979 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could ask a less leading question, like “would you like it if you had the ability to rent infrastructure to get access to a much better internet connection that your local ISPs, and even your own government have no chance of building themselves ?” I’m British, so this question definitely applies to me, by the way.

For a good portion of the world I think you'd have to add, "...at a price roughly equal to [insert large percentage, in places exceeding 100%] your monthly income," to get a more realisic response.

Post by hi41 » Mon, Mar 25, 2024, 5:40 PM UTC

bryanlarsen wrote: post #94

domh wrote: post #73

This is wild. I had no idea of the scope of Starlink satellites in orbit. What is the life cycle of one of these satellites? How long do they last in orbit? Can they be controlled where they crash land down? How many different versions of the satellites are in orbit? I wonder how often they have their software updated and what happens in the failure state of an unsuccessful update?

They have a lifespan of about 5 years, the limit is the amount of maneuvering propellant to compensate for atmospheric drag they have on board. Next gen, which will be launched by the much larger Starship, may have a lot more propellant. Most are in a five year orbit. This means that if SpaceX loses control of the satellite it will deorbit in five years due to atmospheric drag. Under control they deorbit within hours…

Post by BenjiWiebe » Mon, Mar 25, 2024, 6:00 PM UTC

1123581321 wrote: post #180

doctoboggan wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is totally incorrect, what do you think you are seeing in the trains? You can easily see each individual satellite. Just after sunset you can see many individual satellites, not just starlink.

Starlink reduces reflectivity with shielding once the satellites are in orbit. That’s why you only see the trails on their way to insertion. Without the shield, you’re right that the satellites would be visible post insertion.

Post by panick21_ » Mon, Mar 25, 2024, 6:40 PM UTC

jessriedel wrote: post #198

barbazoo wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was very helpful. Clicking on a few satellites and looking at their orbit confirms that. The majority do not go over the poles. Interesting that this also leaves northern Canada, Denmark and Scandinavia with what looks like not much coverage but at the same time there's coverage offered [0] in all those regions. [0] https://www.starlink.com/map

There's probably always going to be issues with getting good coverage of Scandinavia economically because (1) the physics of the orbits means that regions at the same latitude (both Northern and Southern hemisphere) "share" the satellites to an extent and (2) Scandinavia is an outlier in population density at its high latitude. In other words, there are not many other high-latitude countries with which to share the c…

Post by panick21_ » Mon, Mar 25, 2024, 6:49 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #68

Klaster_1 wrote: post #9

Wow, I knew Starlink had an enormous constellation, but visualizing it like that really empathizes the scope. Would be cool if one day you could get your connectivity needs handled by a single company cheaply, almost anywhere in the world, without bothering about new contracts, moving cities or country borders.

>>Would be cool if one day you could get your connectivity needs handled by a single company cheaply, almost anywhere in the world That sounds like an absolute distopian nightmare and the last person on earth that I want to be running this service is Elon Musk. In general I find it horrendous how a single american company can pollute the night sky for every human being in the world, whether they can use their service…