Mastodawn

Pinchy63 🇨🇦1d ago

Prof. Sam Lawler

Any journalists want to write an article about all the environmental costs of the more than 10,000 Starlinks that are now in orbit? All I'm seeing are breathless articles mindlessly worshiping That Awful Billionaire for crossing the 10,000 satellite mark.

Every single one of those will come down in an uncontrolled reentry. That's a lot of metal in the atmosphere, and a lot of dice-rolling to see if any more pieces will make it to the ground.

SpaceX is truly awful.

Simon Elvery 1d ago

@sundogplanets Yes, I would love to. It's on my to do list.

Jeff Craig 1d ago

@simon @sundogplanets IPO on June 9. Gotta get all the material out to ensure this is a massive flop by then.

Legit_Spaghetti 1d ago

@foxxtrot @simon @sundogplanets That's a really good insight. If enough people raise hell and the IPO crashes and burns (much like their stupid satellites), that would be a DELIGHTFUL way to end this nonsense.

Jeff Craig 1d ago

@Legit_Spaghetti Sadly, I suspect there are enough Marks, hoodwinked by Musk, that the IPO won't be a *complete* disaster (though their projected valuation is outright lunacy), but here's hoping it's a flop that destroys the Cult of Musk forever.

mtnrbq65 1d ago

@foxxtrot @Legit_Spaghetti
An interesting video on this:
https://youtu.be/8rS3fTbC7TE?si=D646-604YSfluhuv

Tldw: changes to SEC listing rules could make all index tracking funds have to purchase SpaceX shares at insane valuation

SpaceX IPO Scandal

YouTube

Stephan Eggermont 1d ago

@foxxtrot @simon @sundogplanets I’m not sure that will work. Starlink is ideal for billionaires and criminals to avoid regulation and taxation.

Taran Rampersad 1d ago

@simon @sundogplanets Please do.

Gergely Polonkai 1d ago

@sundogplanets Not to mention the alleged disturbance they cause in the astronomy community. They did voice their opinion multiple times to no avail.

Kajetan Hundhammer 1d ago

@sundogplanets
Already done:
https://magazin.tu-braunschweig.de/en/m-post/burned-up-satellite-debris-could-deplete-ozone-layer/

Burned-up satellite debris could deplete ozone layer - TU Braunschweig | Blogs

It's like a new space race: in order to connect the world with faster internet, more and more companies are planning to launch numerous satellites into

TU Braunschweig | Blogs

Hiisikoloart 1d ago

@hundhamm @sundogplanets
It is so painful since didn't we fix the hole in the ozone just a little while back and now this absolute troglodyte billionare is like, "Hold my beer, I can fuck that up faster than the industries before me."

Every billionare should lose first their wealth and then their freedom, and finally their ability to breathe for the crimes they have commited against everyone and everything on this planet.

Kajetan Hundhammer 1d ago

@hiisikoloart
@sundogplanets

Painful, yes.

But it’s all of us.

Of course China will want a global network. And Europe will want a free internet as well—only for self-defense.

We are killing ourselves with dead dinosaurs and communication debris.

@hundhamm
...aaaand it died from traffic. 😅
@sundogplanets

atopoeia-o 1d ago

@hundhamm @sundogplanets The WWW model is silly. I don't need 25ms access except during occasional calls, which can be handled terrestrially.

Further, I have storage and RAM. Realtime terrestrial broadcast was fine but if you're doing digital data from space "it might as well come from the moon," while cheeky, doesn't seem to be a problem.

In other words, it's ok if it takes seconds for my netflix video to start. Maybe even minutes if my expectations / cost were set that way.

Eric Lawton 1d ago

Or, "Elon Musk's reckless behaviour could deplete ozone layer'.

@sundogplanets @Dianora

Nonya Bidniss 1d ago

@sundogplanets Recommend adding #journalism #media #space #science for reach on groups

Mastodon Migration 1d ago

His really big spaceship is a flaming mess too. Flawed system concept. Years behind schedule. Unlikely to every work.

@mastodonmigration @sundogplanets He just needs a good supplier of Rearden Metal and everything will be fine

( /s in case you don't remember minutia of Atlas Shrugged )

Elon Muksis 🇺🇦 🇵🇸 🇪🇺1d ago

@sundogplanets There's also the ozone layer issue. Holes in it used to be a bad thing. I guess not anynore. Musk is destroying the planet and no one stops him.

UpLateGeek 1d ago

@sundogplanets but they increased the price for aviation customers from $65/month to $250 and decreased the allowance to 20GB. That’s over 3.5x shareholder value! And if you want to go >300MPH, it’s $1,000. That’s >15x! Line go up means they should be allowed to dump as much metal into the atmosphere, no matter what unknown consequences might occur.

Come On Giant Asteroid!1d ago

What percentage of those articles were generated by "AI"? 50%? 80?

Prof. Sam Lawler 1d ago

Dirk Hohndel 1d ago

@sundogplanets
Truly awful. And also on track to pull off a nice heist of everyone's retirement savings. Accelerated entry into the indexes, weighted at 5x actual float. Which means every passive index fund that doesn't exclude mega-caps will be forced to buy a ton of that garbage...

https://www.sahmcapital.com/news/content/michael-burry-flags-structural-manipulation-risk-in-nasdaq-rules-ahead-of-potential-spacex-listing-2026-03-13

apologies for the YouTube link... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rS3fTbC7TE

Michael Burry Flags 'Structural Manipulation' Risk In Nasdaq Rules Ahead Of Potential SpaceX Listing

U.S. stocks, Saudi stocks, stock trading and investment platforms

Benzinga News

salix sericea (@Ripple13216)1d ago

@dirkhh Thank you for surfacing this. The numbers by Patrick Boyle in the youtube video are breathtaking.

Becovich 1d ago

@sundogplanets
I always ask myself: Why so many?

Prof. Sam Lawler 1d ago

@Becovich That is a question no one has ever made SpaceX answer.

Michael Busch 1d ago

Starlink is designed to try to sell slightly-lower-latency links at a steep premium.

To do that, the Starlinks need to fly low.

To fly low and provide continuous coverage, SpaceX needs a lot of them.

Versus Iridium managing with 76 active satellites.

@michael_w_busch @Becovich Starlink also has higher ambitions concerning internet speed or bandwidth. I think that also requires more satellites, no?

Georg Weissenbacher 1d ago

@skaphle @Becovich as @michael_w_busch writes, the problem is not necessarily bandwidth - satellites can provide a very high bandwidth - it is latency. Satellites in geostationary orbit, for instance, have a latency of 1/4 of a second. That’s why Musk’s satellites need to fly low. But that reduces the area they can cover.

Luna chan 1d ago

@sundogplanets It's not even that fast of service.

Bill Bennett 1d ago

@sundogplanets Apparently this is why the Ozone hole is back. And the buggers are only just getting started.

@sundogplanets I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately it’s really sad

Judith haughey 1d ago

@sundogplanets I nominate @clive ! ✨

A. DeMarco 1d ago

@sundogplanets donald is the son of perdition donald is the anti-christ the beast... elon is the devil incarnate, lucifer walks among Humanity. maga is a mark of the beast. Wake Up Humanity... WAKE UP!!!

elon is the devil incarnate, he Is lucifer.

Drew 🇵🇭 ♾️1d ago

@sundogplanets SpaceX - or rather #Starlink - is my lifeline, and the lifeline of many thousands of others living in a rural location with no proper broadband service. #Spacex may be "awful" but it has improved my quality of life immeasurably.

Prof. Sam Lawler 1d ago

@drewtowler Absolutely understand that. SpaceX could provide internet access without destroying the night sky and the atmosphere if they would focus on providing service with fewer satellites that have longer operating lifetimes. That is the engineering challenge they need to rise to.

Drew 🇵🇭 ♾️1d ago

@sundogplanets Not going to argue - but that's out of my control.

John Carlsen 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇪🇺1d ago

@drewtowler can you not instead get ViaSat or HughesNet?

Drew 🇵🇭 ♾️1d ago

@johnlogic When I bought my Starlink kit, I could not get either of those. Having invested in that kit, I'm obviously not going to ditch it. Not to mention the time spent routing cables through walls and roof voids. So whether I can _now_ get ViaSat or HughesNet is immaterial.
EDIT: On checking, Viasat and HughesNet have completely unacceptable latency anyway.

John Carlsen 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇪🇺1d ago

@drewtowler ViaSat and HughesNet use few satellites in geostationary orbits, which are higher than the many disposable satellites that Starlink uses in low Earth orbit.

I've tried VoIP over a GEO system and the latency caused it to be marginal at best. But the latency wasn't an issue for most other uses.

Drew 🇵🇭 ♾️1d ago

@johnlogic It would be unworkable for me.

Michael Busch 1d ago

As @sundogplanets wrote: Satellite internet works fine with far fewer satellites in higher orbits.

Or more places could have fiber run out to local wireless towers.

Instead of giving still more money to Elon Musk's scam.

Drew 🇵🇭 ♾️1d ago

@michael_w_busch @sundogplanets OK, let me know when that becomes available in my location and I'll certainly consider it. I suspect we'll be waiting longer than my anticipated lifespan.

Joe Vinegar 1d ago

@drewtowler @sundogplanets I'm sympathetic with you. Makes sense from your personal viewpoint. I've two doubts.
Bad take: does it make sense to pollute the atmosphere at global scale to bring connectivity in rural areas, if we balance the improved quality of life of the few benefiting against literally the rest of mankind (to be specist)? An utilitarian and an individualist would have no doubts. I have a preference too but I don't think it's ok to abandon rural areas and minority conditions in general.
So, the second doubt:
how much would it cost to bring 5G equivalent connectivity even to remote places? Is it really more expensive than the satellite system? Even without accounting for the negative externalities? And accounting for them? and even if it were, wouldn't it be the only ethical choice (albeit expensive)?

Drew 🇵🇭 ♾️1d ago

@joe_vinegar @sundogplanets First point, it's definitely not OK to abandon rural areas, in my view it's about time they were given special focus after so many years of neglect - so I *think* we agree on that one.
Second point, I have no idea, but when you live where I do, it would require a lot of helicopters to place a hell of a lot of towers. The hills and valleys here are more crinkled than used aluminium foil, and communities are tiny and isolated, sometimes with access only by horse.

I remember those passing scenes in Wall-E with Earth literally covered in space trash. Little me found the surface wasteland plausible but space junk—couldn't be that bad, right?

CassandraVert 1d ago

Also, those satellites are what allows Putin to help Iran target us.
Not an environmental problem, but worth mentioning.

@sundogplanets I am worried that at some point it could create a Kessler Effect

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

Kessler syndrome - Wikipedia

Steve Foerster 🌐1d ago

@alexf24 @sundogplanets Yeah, I'm not really worried about reentry given how small each one is, but this is a much more pressing concern.

D. G. Marshall 1d ago

I assume you saw the article that said the US government had listened to the richest man on earth when he said cleaning up his space junk (in this case, rocket stages abandoned in decaying orbits) was too expensive and he couldn't afford it, and now the proposed regulations to make billionaires clean up after themselves has gone back to the drawing board?

@sundogplanets maybe @georgemonbiot.bsky.social is interested (Topic Environment and starlink pollution)?

TANTVNEWS 1d ago

@sundogplanets would you be interested in writing an OP-ED on this for tantvnews.com?

Prof. Sam Lawler 1d ago

@Tantvnews I've co-authored two in the last few weeks about satellite pollution in general that can be reprinted CC-BY, and I am writing another one. I don't have time to write one specifically for you, sorry.

https://theconversation.com/too-many-satellites-earths-orbit-is-on-track-for-a-catastrophe-but-we-can-stop-it-275430

https://theconversation.com/a-new-space-race-could-turn-our-atmosphere-into-a-crematorium-for-satellites-276366

https://theconversation.com/us/republishing-guidelines

Too many satellites? Earth’s orbit is on track for a catastrophe – but we can stop it

Cultural, spiritual, and most environmental impacts aren’t taken into account when launching thousands of satellites.

The Conversation

Inquisitor Sponge 1d ago

@sundogplanets I remember when I was a kid you looked up in the sky and seeing a satellite was something cool and unusual.😕

RantingCanuck 1d ago

@retrosponge @sundogplanets

I remember... I used to take my binoculars and head out into the middle of nowhere to catch glimpses of the ISS when it was still new.

@sundogplanets What are you talking about?!😁 During bombings in ground wars, there are far more pieces of metal!

Nindelofocho 1d ago

@sundogplanets I do wonder how much research/consideration typically goes into the impact of orbital structures burning up in the atmosphere when a company or organization is designing something to be put into orbit.

Lstn2urmama 🇨🇦1d ago

@sundogplanets heard that there are 77,000 of them up there chaining in Earth or is it CAGING Earth ...🤨😡

Frank Heijkamp 1d ago