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.
Muting this thread now!
Some more info if you are interested in learning more about this mess in orbit from an astronomer/stargazer perspective:
-me getting interviewed by CNN about this ~18 months ago: https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2022/04/04/spacex-satellite-pollution-gothere-cnn-plus.cnn
-a 1 hour talk I gave about this ~1 year ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpdPHOAw_Us
-simulations of visible satellite distributions at many different latitudes: https://uregina.ca/~slb861/satcon.html
-SATCON2 report: https://noirlab.edu/public/announcements/ann21034/
@sundogplanets one of the things I wondered, as a young aspiring aerospace engineer, was how the chicken-and-egg problem would work out in rockets
like it seemed good to make bigger rockets, but would customers show up for it? It'd be a huge business risk, etc etc
now the biggest launch provider (by far) and biggest launch customer (by far) are both owned by the same jerk
Because that is how capitalism works. It has worked like that since rich people started fencing out common land in England and the courts uphold the fencing
@Gojira1000 @sundogplanets Honestly, I'm kindof with you on that 😮💨
I'm fairly scared that within the next 50-100 years we'll see the very first for-profit asteroid mining.
One asteroid contains QUINTILLIONS of dollars worth of precious metals; a company with a monopoly would be richer than continents.
I'd PREFER for us to grow past capitalism before then, but since that seems unlikely 'no space for ANYONE' might be best🙄
Also, small note: *Kessler syndrome, not Keppler 👍
@danwentzel @sundogplanets Nationalize providing everyone with fiber and local wireless; and skip the making a mess of the sky.
For example:
SpaceX got a lot of publicity when the Hoh Tribe purchased Starlink service, but the Hoh Tribe has more quietly been building out community-owned fiber internet connections that it controls to use instead.
In a world controlled by Musk & investors:
1. Can we trust the data on climate change provided by his satellites?
2. Can we trust he isn't copying data streams on military operations over to Putin, Alwaleed bin Talal, Larry Ellison, or Mohammed bin Salman and his other investors?
3. Can we trust that the products he developed using government subsidies & taxpayer funded research will benefit the planet & democracy?
We should have long memories for folks who betray the nation
"1. Can we trust the data on climate change provided by his satellites?"
Not a single one of his satellites so far provides data on climate change, so for now it is not an issue.
(1/3)
"2. Can we trust he isn't copying data streams on military operations over to Putin, Alwaleed bin Talal, Larry Ellison, or Mohammed bin Salman and his other investors?"
Cryptography makes sure it is not an issue. If cryptography is not used properly for sensitive data, it is an issue - but in this case an issue for the customer.
But this applies also for any other communications provider.
(2/3)
3. Can we trust that the products he developed using government subsidies & taxpayer funded research will benefit the planet & democracy?
I guess, no company on earth can guarantee this.
(3/3)
Trust me as someone who acquired all his wealth & power from the labour of the workers.
@sundogplanets Why? Tax cuts. We decided when we scuttled the Space Shuttle that the future of space lay in corporate sponsorship instead of government investment. But with awesome power comes awesome responsibility, and we let billionaires be beholden to no one but their own egos.
I wanna know if we get to prosecute Melon Husk for treason in undermining an operation deemed gravely important to US national security?
@glennsills @sundogplanets Doesn't need to be nationalized because it's in the process of transferring to Morgan Stanley and Bank of America as a result of the financing of the Twitter buyout.
If Tesla stock drops too far, the banks will start taking possession of his assets. They're first in line during the firesale.
@glennsills @sundogplanets Yes, and that means their decisions will align with the national interest. They are mature capitalist enterprises which understand their dependence and allegiance to the capitalist state:! "l'État, c'est nous".
It might not be good for the subjects of the state, but that's a different standard.
Thanks for the stark reality that news orgs ignore.
We have privatized infrastructure: from am/fm radio to cell phone towers (let the “market” decide which tech is best) to satellites and space launches (all Musk, all the time) because Rs in Congress, accelerating after Reagan, believe that “the market” can always “be better.”
Chicago School economists gave them that rhetoric, which legitimizes IMPERFECT markets that should be regulated. 🤦🏼♀️
The US gave up on anti-trust.
Nationalize them.
Can you share the breakdown on the other 45%?
Attached: 1 image The #night #sky in 2023. This shocking #photography was obtained from #Montana (#USA) over 17 minutes. It reveals the crazy number of #satellites orbiting the #Earth. Most of them are #StarLink (from #SpaceX / #Musk) and aim at providing internet to some remote places. StarLink is not the only project for space-based #internet: there are also #Kuiper (#Amazon), #oneWeb, #Iris2 (@[email protected]), etc... which will send even more satellites into #space #Astronomy Credits: Matt C. Jackson
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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