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There's several more startups filing to launch their own 10,000+ satellites. The sky is going to be trashed like the scooters littered across every major city'

by ck2 4y ago

There's several more startups filing to launch their own 10,000+ satellites. The sky is going to be trashed like the scooters littered across every major city's sidewalks, seemed like an acceptable idea on paper by the eager governments beforehand but in reality it just makes an absolute mess that no-one seems to take responsibility for or ever fixes.

RedCondor 4y ago
100%.
Jon_Lowtek 4y ago
> no-one seems to take responsibility No profit oriented corporation will ever take responsibility for downsides of their business that can be pushed onto others as externalities. The answer is to force them with regulations. (This is the general rule, exceptions do exist like brands or product lines that cater to the niche of people especially conscious of a particular issue. The food sector is a good example. Note how those who do tend to create self-regulation with certifiable standards and that, strictly speaking, they can not externalise that specific issue so they don't)
kitsunesoba 4y ago
It’s worth noting that the only reason that megaconstellations even work as a business model is thanks to telecom giants refusing to develop infrastructure everywhere it’s needed, despite making promises and taking government handouts to do so for decades, as well as being monopolists and obstructing competition where competitors were trying to make good on development promises. This left a vacuum which is now being filled since LEO is a place where incumbent telecoms have little power to obstruct (though this hasn’t stopped them from trying). So in my mind, if we want to curb megaconstellations, the best way to do that is to strip telecoms of their monopolist powers and mandate development of fiber infrastructure in the ground, which even the best LEO constellations don’t have so much as a hint of hope of competing with. The economics will cease to make sense and the constellations will be canceled and decommissioned. We can’t just leave that open vacuum.

by ck2 4y ago

RedCondor 4y ago

100%.

Jon_Lowtek 4y ago

> no-one seems to take responsibility No profit oriented corporation will ever take responsibility for downsides of their business that can be pushed onto others as externalities. The answer is to force them with regulations. (This is the general rule, exceptions do exist like brands or product lines that cater to the niche of people especially conscious of a particular issue. The food sector is a good example. Note how those who do tend to create self-regulation with certifiable standards and that, strictly speaking, they can not externalise that specific issue so they don't)

kitsunesoba 4y ago

It’s worth noting that the only reason that megaconstellations even work as a business model is thanks to telecom giants refusing to develop infrastructure everywhere it’s needed, despite making promises and taking government handouts to do so for decades, as well as being monopolists and obstructing competition where competitors were trying to make good on development promises. This left a vacuum which is now being filled since LEO is a place where incumbent telecoms have little power to obstruct (though this hasn’t stopped them from trying). So in my mind, if we want to curb megaconstellations, the best way to do that is to strip telecoms of their monopolist powers and mandate development of fiber infrastructure in the ground, which even the best LEO constellations don’t have so much as a hint of hope of competing with. The economics will cease to make sense and the constellations will be canceled and decommissioned. We can’t just leave that open vacuum.