5 ms·

Starlink satellites are going to be missile defense satellites? I'm really not following.

Retric 4y ago
Don’t worry you tried to look too closely at a conspiracy theory and it fell apart. A clasic conspiracy theory is basically conformation bias run wild. So someone thinks “thousands of satellites must be useful for X” but never really look into just how tiny each individual satellite is and how much of that must be used to fulfill it’s cover story.
- kidme5 4y ago
  > how tiny each satellite is That's true for v1 satellites, but the v2 (to be launched with Starship) are huge. > it's just a conspiracy theory Its open knowledge that SpaceX is building these custom military satellites for the military (Space Development Agency). Not a secret at all. https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink#Military_capabilities https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink#Military_capabilities
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - Retric 4y ago
    I can see why you would get confused, this is using elements from Starlink satellites the so called “Starlink bus” not the constellation. -The Space Development Agency awarded $193.5 million to L3Harris and $149 million to SpaceX to build four satellites each to detect and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles.“ -“We want to show that we can take commoditized commercial components and perform a DoD mission,” said Tournear. https://spacenews.com/spacex-l3harris-win-space-development-agency-contracts-to-build-missile-warning-satellites/ https://spacenews.com/spacex-l3harris-win-space-development-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_bus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_bus
    - kidme5 4y ago
      It's only four satellites until it isn't.
      - Retric 4y ago
        Sure when the military wants more they have no issues building and launching satellites. The point still stands, it’s clear the Starlink constellation is independent. They are simply reusing a useful platform the same way the DoD buys PC’s etc.
        kidme5 4y ago
        Starlink has a separate military division led by a four-star general (Terrence O'Shaughnessy). They're not exactly making PCs.
        Retric 4y ago
        Former general, and the military is a huge potential market for Starlink’s network or as he proposed in 2019 possibly a new DoD specific constellation. The issue with Starlink’s network is they don’t have polar coverage which is needed due to nuclear subs in the Arctic Ocean.
        kidme5 4y ago
        They already added polar orbits for the military.
        Retric 4y ago
        You can see the satellites here: https://satellitemap.space/?constellation=starlink https://satellitemap.space/?constellation=starlink Coverage of the Arctic Ocean is insufficient for ground observation. It could change but would be really obvious as you would have polar orbits through the Pacific Ocean which would be really wasteful for their business model.
- AtlasBarfed 4y ago
  The biggest driver of weaponization of space is Putin's nuclear saber rattling, space companies have always been in service of defense contracts. You want to see a real budgetary boondoggle? I give you the United Launch Alliance. Just like the biggest driver of EV car adoption at the policy level is Puting, current gas prices, inflaction, and OPEC trying for more profit mongering. Frankly I'm mystified as to why Musk posted that weak tweet to ending the war. He's in the perfect situation to be a war profiteer, and he doesn't even provide weapons. But to the conspiracy nuts out there, the constellation is perfect cover for a smart rock interception network.
xt00 4y ago
I think the idea would be you need to empower the network of satellites in the sky to react quickly to a nuclear attack from another country, so you need to allow this “sky-net” to launch nukes at a moments notice without human intervention.. it likely would need a human level intelligence to quickly asses the level of risk. And to avoid being hacked, you would want this AI to be able to protect itself under various circumstances. Sounds reasonable right?

Don’t worry you tried to look too closely at a conspiracy theory and it fell apart. A clasic conspiracy theory is basically conformation bias run wild. So someone thinks “thousands of satellites must be useful for X” but never really look into just how tiny each individual satellite is and how much of that must be used to fulfill it’s cover story.

kidme5 4y ago
> how tiny each satellite is That's true for v1 satellites, but the v2 (to be launched with Starship) are huge. > it's just a conspiracy theory Its open knowledge that SpaceX is building these custom military satellites for the military (Space Development Agency). Not a secret at all. https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink#Military_capabilities https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink#Military_capabilities
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Retric 4y ago
  I can see why you would get confused, this is using elements from Starlink satellites the so called “Starlink bus” not the constellation. -The Space Development Agency awarded $193.5 million to L3Harris and $149 million to SpaceX to build four satellites each to detect and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles.“ -“We want to show that we can take commoditized commercial components and perform a DoD mission,” said Tournear. https://spacenews.com/spacex-l3harris-win-space-development-agency-contracts-to-build-missile-warning-satellites/ https://spacenews.com/spacex-l3harris-win-space-development-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_bus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_bus
  - kidme5 4y ago
    It's only four satellites until it isn't.
    - Retric 4y ago
      Sure when the military wants more they have no issues building and launching satellites. The point still stands, it’s clear the Starlink constellation is independent. They are simply reusing a useful platform the same way the DoD buys PC’s etc.
      - kidme5 4y ago
        Starlink has a separate military division led by a four-star general (Terrence O'Shaughnessy). They're not exactly making PCs.
        Retric 4y ago
        Former general, and the military is a huge potential market for Starlink’s network or as he proposed in 2019 possibly a new DoD specific constellation. The issue with Starlink’s network is they don’t have polar coverage which is needed due to nuclear subs in the Arctic Ocean.
        kidme5 4y ago
        They already added polar orbits for the military.
        Retric 4y ago
        You can see the satellites here: https://satellitemap.space/?constellation=starlink https://satellitemap.space/?constellation=starlink Coverage of the Arctic Ocean is insufficient for ground observation. It could change but would be really obvious as you would have polar orbits through the Pacific Ocean which would be really wasteful for their business model.
AtlasBarfed 4y ago
The biggest driver of weaponization of space is Putin's nuclear saber rattling, space companies have always been in service of defense contracts. You want to see a real budgetary boondoggle? I give you the United Launch Alliance. Just like the biggest driver of EV car adoption at the policy level is Puting, current gas prices, inflaction, and OPEC trying for more profit mongering. Frankly I'm mystified as to why Musk posted that weak tweet to ending the war. He's in the perfect situation to be a war profiteer, and he doesn't even provide weapons. But to the conspiracy nuts out there, the constellation is perfect cover for a smart rock interception network.

xt00 4y ago

I think the idea would be you need to empower the network of satellites in the sky to react quickly to a nuclear attack from another country, so you need to allow this “sky-net” to launch nukes at a moments notice without human intervention.. it likely would need a human level intelligence to quickly asses the level of risk. And to avoid being hacked, you would want this AI to be able to protect itself under various circumstances. Sounds reasonable right?