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Presumably once enough of the network is up, SpaceX will have an "all orbit" telemetry setup using their own network.That would free them from using the NASA ne
by ChuckMcM 7y ago
Presumably once enough of the network is up, SpaceX will have an "all orbit" telemetry setup using their own network.That would free them from using the NASA network and maybe we'd get to see drone ship video that didn't always cut out at the landing :-).
One of my managers from Sun, Don Hoffman, left and went on as an early employee of Teledesic, a LEO satellite broadband company in 1990 :-). But the prohibitive cost to get to space, and the size of their satellites, ultimately doomed them.
Starlink is a good example of an idea that failed but could succeed now because technology has moved far enough forward to actually do what the engineers envisioned in a more cost effective way.
That said, its a risky move for SpaceX which has the potential to be considered as having a launch monopoly given their costs structure, and using that to get into adjacent markets is something that is the kind of thing that antitrust lawyers go after.
- martythemaniak 7y agoThis was leaked a few years ago: https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-BZ810_SPACEX_9U_20170112174544.jpg https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-BZ810_SPACEX_9... This is the only thing that would allow SpaceX to have non-linear growth and ultimately fund their grander ambitions, ie Mars. Given the potential rewards, seems like a very worthwhile risk.
- 3JPLW 7y agoIsn't the drone ship video problem on the "ground" side? That is, the vibrations and motions the rocket induces ends up messing up the satellite dish's targeting.
- sq_ 7y agoThe problem, in my understanding, is that the drone ship currently passes the video data to shore via a link to a satellite in geostationary orbit. Because the drone ship's dish has to be aimed within a very tight arc in order to communicate with the satellite, the vibrations from the first stage's landing burn causes the connection to be lost. Because there'll be a ton of Starlink satellites up there once the constellation has been completed (and they'll be much closer than geostationary), the acceptable arc for the dish to be aimed should become wider, and it will likely become possible for SpaceX to use the Starlink network instead and maintain a good connection the whole time.
- ChuckMcM 7y agoAs I understand it, both the intermittent telemetry video from the first stage, and drone ships is the challenge of maintaining line of sight from the transmitter to an effective relay. The antenna for reaching the starlink constellation will look more like the ones you see on the iridium handsets rather than the directional dish that is characteristic of geo-synchronous satellites. Regardless of orientation or vibration, the signals can be effectively transmitted (and received) from ground to orbit. Now they still have the option of cutting off our access to the video when things aren't going in a way that is favorable to SpaceX of course :-).