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This is exciting news! I wonder if this will trigger space warfare, which might push nations to invest more into space, and maybe we'll finally become space-fa
by analyst74 9y ago
This is exciting news!
I wonder if this will trigger space warfare, which might push nations to invest more into space, and maybe we'll finally become space-faring species in my lifetime!
- colemannugent 9y agoWell, that's one way to do it lol. Hurry up Musk!
- toomanybeersies 9y agoOr alternatively space warfare will trigger Kessler Syndrome, and we'll be trapped on this planet until we find a way to clean up all the debris.
- lorenzhs 9y agoThe risk of Kessler Syndrome is being exaggerated a lot on HN. These new, very large satellite constellations aren't in stable orbits, they only last for a few years before decaying naturally. So even if every satellite there were to be destroyed by some magical event, the debris would re-enter the atmosphere within at most a couple of years. It would be quite bad if geostationary orbits became unusable, but there are way fewer satellites there, and GEO is becoming less important for many of its traditional applications (e.g. communication, see for example the spacex starlink project which just had its first two test satellites launched, or planet labs' constellation of small and cheap imaging satellites). Much of this is due to a reduction in launch prices and a focus on many small and cheap satellites, instead of few large and expensive ones.
- greglindahl 9y agoYou might want to double-check your claim about orbits -- everything but SpaceX's 2nd constellation is not in orbits that "only last a few years". Iridium: 781 km O3b: 8000 km OneWeb: 1200 km Starlink: 1,125 km and 340 km