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We do need and can have multiple fleets up there. OneWeb has already launched a bunch of satellites, and there is enough room up there for several more, particu

We do need and can have multiple fleets up there. OneWeb has already launched a bunch of satellites, and there is enough room up there for several more, particularly as operators get better at safely operating them.

marcus_holmes 6y ago
I would agree, but I've seen the mess that e-scooter organisations have made of this. The city is littered with e-scooters whose name changes every few months. If the business plan doesn't work out, who cleans up the satellites?
- Robotbeat 6y ago
  The satellites have to have ability to do a commanded deorbit. Additionally, at the altitudes Starlink operates at, if there’s a problem with the commanded deorbit, the satellites will naturally deorbit in a reasonable time. EDIT:OneWeb operates at higher altitudes where if there's a failure, the satellite will stay there for hundreds of years, but to try to mitigate that a bit, they added a grappling fixture/fiducial to try to make it easier for a robotic deorbiting craft to capture it.
  - marcus_holmes 6y ago
    I didn't know that about Starlink. That's cool :) The Oneweb stuff not so much, but at least they're thinking about it.
- kanox 6y ago
  > The city is littered with e-scooters whose name changes every few months. You claim to be against monopolies but are unwilling to tolerate even the slight inconvenience of seeing scooters parked around? I personally love them for their amazing convenience and they're also incredibly compact relative to cars or even bikes. > If the business plan doesn't work out, who cleans up the satellites? Cleaning up is essentially free as long as the satellites are still operational: just command them to deorbit. Orbits are low enough that the fuel required to deorbit is comparable to a few months of station-keeping.
  - marcus_holmes 6y ago
    I'm not against the scooters being parked around. I'm against the flood of them, and them being abandoned in the middle of footpaths, cyclepaths, etc. They were a great novelty for a while. But I got over them. So if a satellite stops responding to commands, they're going to go get it? To make sure it doesn't hit anything else and cause more problems?

marcus_holmes 6y ago

I would agree, but I've seen the mess that e-scooter organisations have made of this. The city is littered with e-scooters whose name changes every few months. If the business plan doesn't work out, who cleans up the satellites?

Robotbeat 6y ago
The satellites have to have ability to do a commanded deorbit. Additionally, at the altitudes Starlink operates at, if there’s a problem with the commanded deorbit, the satellites will naturally deorbit in a reasonable time. EDIT:OneWeb operates at higher altitudes where if there's a failure, the satellite will stay there for hundreds of years, but to try to mitigate that a bit, they added a grappling fixture/fiducial to try to make it easier for a robotic deorbiting craft to capture it.
- marcus_holmes 6y ago
  I didn't know that about Starlink. That's cool :) The Oneweb stuff not so much, but at least they're thinking about it.
kanox 6y ago
> The city is littered with e-scooters whose name changes every few months. You claim to be against monopolies but are unwilling to tolerate even the slight inconvenience of seeing scooters parked around? I personally love them for their amazing convenience and they're also incredibly compact relative to cars or even bikes. > If the business plan doesn't work out, who cleans up the satellites? Cleaning up is essentially free as long as the satellites are still operational: just command them to deorbit. Orbits are low enough that the fuel required to deorbit is comparable to a few months of station-keeping.
- marcus_holmes 6y ago
  I'm not against the scooters being parked around. I'm against the flood of them, and them being abandoned in the middle of footpaths, cyclepaths, etc. They were a great novelty for a while. But I got over them. So if a satellite stops responding to commands, they're going to go get it? To make sure it doesn't hit anything else and cause more problems?