Updating talk slides so you all get to be horrified along with me at the current Starlink numbers.
There are now 7,652 Starlink satellites in orbit (>500 more than there were in February, when I last updated these particular slides).
2-3 Starlinks per day are burning up in the atmosphere. That's a lot of weird metal in the atmosphere (and undoubtedly lots of random bits getting to the ground too).
Starlink is a stupidly wasteful and dangerous way to use orbit.
> Starlink is a stupidly wasteful and dangerous way to use orbit.
I never thought of 'orbit' this way before: Orbits are a scarce, non-renewable resource. One Kessler-style incident, and the whole orbitable sphere is wiped out for decades, possibly centuries.
Can't launch new satellites into a debris field. Kinda iffy to send a spacecraft through a debris field to a higher orbit, certainly not with people on board.
It would be hilariously ironic if starlink debris has been damaging the SpaceX rockets that keep failing.
Prof. Sam Lawler
Bob Jonkman
Chad Baker