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It'll be interesting to see whether SpaceX allows, relatively easily and simply, Starlink to be used by brave people living under oppressive regimes: it could a
by jseliger 6y ago
It'll be interesting to see whether SpaceX allows, relatively easily and simply, Starlink to be used by brave people living under oppressive regimes: it could allow for far freer information than what's currently available.
- pkaye 6y agoDon't they need to get approval in each country they operate?
- bpodgursky 6y agoFor now, but only because SpaceX is playing nice. If SpaceX decides to transmit to rural Syria against the wishes of the Assad regime, and the people on the ground find a receiver, who's going to stop them*? (other than the US, if it so chooses)
- howlgarnish 6y agoInterestingly enough, the extent of a country's sovereignty in (air)space is legally quite unclear. It's pretty well established that countries can regulate planes and such flying at an altitude of ~10 km, and the Outer Space Treaty bans claims on celestrial bodies, but everything in between (including Starlink's satellites in LEO, some 2,000 km from the Earth's surface) is in a grey zone. Legal issues aside, they're also quite literally beyond the reach of all but a small handful of spacefaring nations, and even a nation like China that has the technical capability would not resort to actively shooting them down unless other avenues were exhausted.