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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 at
by 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 agoThe 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 agoTIL
- wcoenen 4y agoThe 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 agohope that's true ^^'
- modshatereality 4y agocompletely burned up reactor/battery or not, it's still radioactive waste.
- talboren 4y agoIf it’s completely burned when entering the atmosphere, is it really?
- BenjiWiebe 4y agoYes, because combustion is a chemical process. The radioactive atoms are still there, just as many as if it hadn't burned.
- skissane 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. Kosmos 954 was a Soviet satellite. The FCC only has jurisdiction over private US satellites. I'm not sure why you are connecting them. If China/India/Russia/etc want to risk another "nuclear reactor re-entry oopsie", that is completely out of the FCC's hands. It would probably even be out of the FCC's hands if some other US government agency (NASA or DOD or DOE) wanted to risk it.
- wcoenen 4y agoYes, that was unrelated to the FCC. It was just something that popped into my mind as an example of something that was orders of magnitudes more problematic than a starlink re-entry.