With the upcoming microsat 2a & 2b launch let's discuss the SpaceX internet constellation codenamed Starlink.
>what is starlink? A hueg network of LEO satellites for the purpose of providing internet everywhere. The initial constellation consists of 4,425 satellites and a second constellation of an additional 7,518.
>but why? It'll make SpaceX hundreds of billions of dollars and fund future mars projects.
>how speedy are we talking? 1 Gbps per end user.
>but what about the latency? 25ms. LEO! Data travels at 1.0c in a vacuum. 0.7c in fiber-optics.
>Won't this take a fuckton of launches to establish? Yes, 40 sats can fit in a standard f9 fairing. So.... 300 launches.
>But what about the weather? Downlink is in the Ku band and uplink is in the Ka band, so severe weather would have a moderate impact on connectivity.
>How would one connect to the Starlink network? You purchase a pizza-box sized phased array unit and pay a subscription fee.
There wont be an "off the grid" once this thing goes live
Oliver Edwards
how so? I'd say that Starlink will be a benefit for those that live off-the-grid. You can live in the middle of Alaska with some solar panels and still have fast internet.
Landon Johnson
I want to believe, but I don't know if I should. Elon makes a lot of promises, and has a good record so far, but when someone promises you the moon (and Mars, and now this) a bit of healthy skepticism is necessary.
That said, I don't stand to lose anything whether this succeeds or fails, so I'd might as well hope it does. Is there any word on pricing for this yet?
Colton Garcia
Good luck ever going anywhere or doing anything without it being tracked or monitored again, unless you go full primitive.
Brody Myers
They should call it the Kesslernet, in honor of Donald J. Kessler, who predicted that one day there would be so many satellites in LEO that one breaking up would cause others to break up, in a snowball effect that would destroy all satellites in LEO and leave it unusable for decades.
Logan Clark
pricing will probably be like how Steam sets game prices. It will depend on the PPP/etc of each country.
As for promises, this is already much further along than they want you to think: - They're flying working hardware tomorrow to test the basic satellite design - They've filed multiple FCC applications and appeared in congress to work with regulators on various issues - They have already opened a Starlink/satellite specific office in Redmond - Elon has stated that they aim to initially acquire 10% of the ISP market.... keyword: initially. This paired with the somewhat quiet news on "how we'll fund mars colonization" hints that Starlink is SpaceX's ace-in-the-hole for generating huge amounts of revenue.
Leo Richardson
it's low-enough-LEO that air resistance will deorbit alllll of them unless they boost periodically with the onboard Hall effect thrusters. So even if the Chinese blow up a couple it shouldn't be a "big" problem. Kessler syndrome is sort of a meme anyways.
Jaxson Reed
>implying that wasn't already happening with GPS and tracking you
don't be a derp
Ryder Garcia
They're communications satellites and small ones at that. Unless you've got the equipment to talk to them they won't be able to track you. NRO probably has ones that can do it but they're not going to be pointing them at you.
The ability to live off the grid was already dead though assuming you've ever had a car, a phone or any device that connects to the internet. Plate readers and cell towers are everywhere nowadays and the NSA has always monitored everything on the internet.
