Discussion
RE: https://mstdn.social/@staringatclouds/117252765136015066
Why does Starlink need 42,000 (+15,000, +100,000) to provide the services that this company can provide with only 264 satellites? And why isn't anybody asking Starlink to show why they need so damn many satellites? (This is the right direction to go with engineering: provide your services with fewer satellites. Kessler is coming.)
@sundogplanets And if you're prepared to accept slightly higher latency (equivalent to what Australians experience to the US) you can got with a MEO constellation like O3b that uses 30 satellites. The mPOWER phased array payload handles a huge number of simulataneous users. https://www.boeing.com/features/2026/09/delivery-of-o3b-mpower-satellites-set-to-complete-constellation-for-high-speed-service
@sundogplanets Gemini tells me it is about bandwidth in combination with LEO
@sundogplanets They are not the same service. Presumably Starlink can handle thousands of times more traffic. This is like asking why YouTube needs datacenters when you can host videos on a raspberry pi.
@sundogplanets possibly network capacity due to Boyle's law and if their stuff is there, no-one else can.
@sundogplanets Capacity. It's not the same level of service.
@sundogplanets
Donald Kessler is choosing a coffin that will be large enough to allow for comfortable spinning.
@sundogplanets it’s like he wants to cause Kessler syndrome. Of course, he’d then be broke af if he did.
@sundogplanets also, why tf are we letting a singular multi-billionaire monopolize every single form of communication infrastructure we have?
Musk is funded by oligarchs gearing up for world war. Trump is funded by the same oligarchs.
https://cepa.org/article/should-elon-musk-decide-who-wins-wars/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/13/us-saudi-arabia-arms-deal-trump-meeting-syria
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/04/x-twitter-blocks-dissident-accounts-saudi-arabia
https://abcnews.com/US/elon-musk-regular-contact-vladimir-putin-new-report/story?id=115130093
A satellite-saturated low earth orbit is part of that preparation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/05/13/trump-tech-execs-riyadh/
https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/trump-saudi-dinner-ai-deals-21196862.php
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@sundogplanets
I heard something and I don’t know what the source is now that’s supposedly China is all geed up for this Space race and what they wanna do is stuff all the available LEO orbits with Chinese spacecraft in order to be like cock block the US a.k.a. Elon.
You know, honestly, I loved to convince all the leadership of all the evil governments. The human population are subjected to convince them all that they need to move into the heart of the sun.