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- "I don't see what would prevent China from shooting down Starlink's constellation." They absolutely do not have tens of thousands of anti-satellite missiles,
by perihelions 2y ago
- "I don't see what would prevent China from shooting down Starlink's constellation."
They absolutely do not have tens of thousands of anti-satellite missiles, or any other credible (non-nuclear) way to dismantle a constellation of that size. If you look at their own news media[0], they (Chinese defense) consider it a major weakness, and priority.
[0] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3178939/china-military-needs-defence-against-potential-starlink-threat https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3178939/chin... ("China military must be able to destroy Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites if they threaten national security: scientists")
- "Researchers call for development of anti-satellite capabilities including ability to track, monitor and disable each craft The Starlink platform with its thousands of satellites is believed to be indestructible"
- philipwhiuk 2y agoHonestly you probably only need a shoot a few before the debris is a huge challenge for the rest of the constellation. They're not as impregnable as the military's new LEO obsession makes out.
- pyrale 2y agoThere aren't tens of thousands of Starlink satellites over China, and I suspect the issue would be solved or escalated way before the whole constellation gets down.
- perihelions 2y ago- "There aren't tens of thousands of Starlink satellites over China" Sure there are; that's how orbits work. These aren't geostationary satellites.
- pyrale 2y agoI understand how orbits work, but the current count for the whole constellation isn't at tens of thousands to begin with.