Prof. Sam Lawler
I just had to update my numbers for a lecture, so here's your periodic reminder: Starlink is now 55% of ALL active satellites in orbit.
And given the recent news about that awful billionaire unilaterally deciding to cut of Starlink internet access to parts of the world whenever he wants to, this is extra important to share. Why did our governments effectively gift Low Earth Orbit to one awful dude? This is so bad.
railmeat
@sundogplanets I don't think governments gave him low earth orbit, I think he just took it. That is usually what these guys do.
Prof. Sam Lawler
@railmeat Yeah, true. They gifted it by not regulating it, and he took advantage of the lack of regulation.
Prof. Sam Lawler
@paulknightly Almost all the satellites you can see with your eyes now are Starlinks. Nicely demonstrated in this awful/beautiful photo: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220614.html
Paul Knightly, PhD
@sundogplanets it's very sad.
I was sitting outside with my spouse last night to watch a Starlink train pass (her first) and I pointed out that as the train crossed paths with another satellite the odds were very high that the other sat was also a Starlink. Didn't realize the odds were that high😬
Prof. Sam Lawler
@EricFielding @paulknightly Astronomers are painfully aware of this fact https://planet4589.org/space/con/conlist.html
Dr. Eric J. Fielding, PhD
@sundogplanets @paulknightly There are other companies trying to launch their own large constellations of communications satellites, including OneWeb and Amazon Kuiper. Starlink is moving faster but not the only culprit.
clacke
rom428
@sundogplanets I thought the mission of Starling was to give internet to everyone.
Thomas Haverkamp
@sundogplanets I agree, that Elon Musk is interfering with global security issues is a problem.
triskelionrdc
@sundogplanets An agreement signed with #ElonMusk in #Beijing on 30 May 2023 for the supply of #Samarium , a #RareEarthElement essential for #Space #Communications , has prompted People's Republic of #China Ministry of Natural Resources to redraw its Standard Map to include a large part of #Malaysia territorial waters near #Sabah and #Sarawak , whose seabed contains abundant deposits of #Samarium .
D.M.Barnham
A little while back my brother was going to join up to Starlink for his business stuff. It would've been cheaper, quicker and more reliable than what he was currently using. But then Elon did an Elon and with the twitter insanity + the ukraine shut out my brother said "F that" and decided he morally couldn't support such a horrid human being.
He is buying a Tesla though, but that's simply because the other EV guys were messing him around not because he wants one.
Dane Peterson
@sundogplanets Let's not forget that one awful dude also owns the only way we have to get astronauts to and from the ISS right now.
Well, him and Russia, I suppose, technically.
Kathy E. Gill 🇺🇦
Context for this @sundogplanets post
In Jan 2022, #SpaceX owned and operated 1,655 satellites (“more than a third of the total satellites in orbit”).
https://dewesoft.com/blog/every-satellite-orbiting-earth-and-who-owns-them
Aug 2023, NYT
SpaceX has “about 4,500” satellites. “So one company, I mean, one man, in fact, is responsible for 50 percent of the satellites in space”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/podcasts/the-daily/elon-musk-starlink-space.html
“The company is the only U.S. entity currently able to send astronauts to orbit”
https://www.axios.com/2023/09/05/spacex-dominance-space-industry
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