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SpaceX's Next-Gen Starlink Satellites Have Started Falling from Space

29 points by talboren 4y ago

dmonitor 4y ago
Pretty click-bait article. Headline and first paragraph make it sound like they are deorbiting due to a propulsion failure, but the rest clarifies that they are intentionally deorbiting in a controlled manner.
- Waterluvian 4y ago
  Yeah. The satellite failed to orbit so they basically instructed it to disintegrate in the atmosphere as safely as possible.
  - talboren 4y ago
    yeah.. so I wouldn't say "intentionally", just sounds like something went wrong and they have this fail-safe mechanism that makes it "okay"
- muskygpt 4y ago
  [flagged]
- talboren 4y ago
  well.. it got my attention and had me thinking how's something like that just goes silently "under the radar"
verdverm 4y ago
They were test articles for the next gen, mini-v2's, only some of them had issues and were intentionally deorbited. Others will be elevated to intended orbits and continue to validate the many new technologies onboard
- talboren 4y ago
  wonder if this is somehow regulated or anybody with sufficient resources can just do these tests? what happens if it doesn't get burned when returning to the atmosphere?
  - verdverm 4y ago
    The FCC regulates US satellites, besides military, iirc. They are designed to disintegrate, returning orbital velocity is quite catastrophic. It's harder to design something to survive
    - talboren 4y ago
      TIL
  - wcoenen 4y ago
    The FCC is the relevant regulator. Starlinks are designed to burn up completely[1]. We've come a long way since the days of nuclear reactor re-entry[2] oopsies. [1] https://spectrum.ieee.org/spacex-claims-to-have-redesigned-its-starlink-satellites-to-eliminate-casualty-risks https://spectrum.ieee.org/spacex-claims-to-have-redesigned-i... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954
    - talboren 4y ago
      hope that's true ^^'
      - modshatereality 4y ago
        completely burned up reactor/battery or not, it's still radioactive waste.
        talboren 4y ago
        If it’s completely burned when entering the atmosphere, is it really?

29 points by talboren 4y ago

Pretty click-bait article. Headline and first paragraph make it sound like they are deorbiting due to a propulsion failure, but the rest clarifies that they are intentionally deorbiting in a controlled manner.

Waterluvian 4y ago
Yeah. The satellite failed to orbit so they basically instructed it to disintegrate in the atmosphere as safely as possible.
- talboren 4y ago
  yeah.. so I wouldn't say "intentionally", just sounds like something went wrong and they have this fail-safe mechanism that makes it "okay"
muskygpt 4y ago
[flagged]
talboren 4y ago
well.. it got my attention and had me thinking how's something like that just goes silently "under the radar"

verdverm 4y ago

They were test articles for the next gen, mini-v2's, only some of them had issues and were intentionally deorbited. Others will be elevated to intended orbits and continue to validate the many new technologies onboard

talboren 4y ago
wonder if this is somehow regulated or anybody with sufficient resources can just do these tests? what happens if it doesn't get burned when returning to the atmosphere?
- verdverm 4y ago
  The FCC regulates US satellites, besides military, iirc. They are designed to disintegrate, returning orbital velocity is quite catastrophic. It's harder to design something to survive
  - talboren 4y ago
    TIL
- wcoenen 4y ago
  The FCC is the relevant regulator. Starlinks are designed to burn up completely[1]. We've come a long way since the days of nuclear reactor re-entry[2] oopsies. [1] https://spectrum.ieee.org/spacex-claims-to-have-redesigned-its-starlink-satellites-to-eliminate-casualty-risks https://spectrum.ieee.org/spacex-claims-to-have-redesigned-i... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954
  - talboren 4y ago
    hope that's true ^^'
    - modshatereality 4y ago
      completely burned up reactor/battery or not, it's still radioactive waste.
      - talboren 4y ago
        If it’s completely burned when entering the atmosphere, is it really?