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Could be useful underground and underwater, and on the Moon too! It is not reasonable to increase program cost by 50% just to provide internet to 1000 people l
by lightgreen 7y ago
Could be useful underground and underwater, and on the Moon too!
It is not reasonable to increase program cost by 50% just to provide internet to 1000 people living in Antarctica, who already have satellite internet.
- wtallis 7y agoI really doubt it would be a 50% cost increase. They're already planning a few hundred satellites to fly in orbits with 81° inclination, which should provide some coverage for the coast of Antarctica. Adding a few dozen in a polar orbit would be more like a 0.6% increase in the total number of satellites planned, which I can imagine the military paying for with pocket change if the system as a whole proves to be successful.
- RealityVoid 7y agoBut, still, 0.6% increase in costs would be amortized over the lifespan of the project or not?
- wtallis 7y agoIf they added a polar orbit to the constellation, they would populate it with just one or two launches. So the costs of adding that polar coverage would be incurred basically all at once, and would have to be recouped over the lifetime of those satellites.