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Europe's Starlink competitor is go

12 points by peutetre 2y ago

m463 2y ago
I can't help but think that starlink was a change-in-the-seat-cushions byproduct of a rocket development company. And now the EU wants wants to compete with it using (some) public funds, even though it a different animal.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > starlink was a change-in-the-seat-cushions byproduct of a rocket development company What does this mean? SpaceX built a better truck. Communications satellites are what everyone puts on trucks. They’re more than happy to be everyone else’s truck; the EU and Kuiper will pay SpaceX to lift their birds.
  - m463 2y ago
    I was saying that SpaceX's business is developing rockets for mars. Starlink was just something that might provide some ongoing revenue to defray the costs of rocket development. Spacex and Starlink are not really trying to turn a profit from each other. But the EU will be paying others to construct and launch satellites, and the equation is probably different. Imagine if the US government decided leo communications satellites were important, and it signed contracts with a satellite contractor and ULA to build and launch a similar number of satellites into orbit. I suspect it would be uneconomical and the communications service would not be competitive.
    - N19PEDL2 2y ago
      I think the motivation is mostly strategic: the EU does not want to be dependent on US satellites or undersea cables that can be sabotaged by the Russians for its communications.
Havoc 2y ago
Wouldn’t you need more cash for a full set of LEO sats?
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > Wouldn’t you need more cash for a full set of LEO sats? Not if you only aim to cover the EU’s population centres in round one.
  - hedora 2y ago
    LEO satellites still need to orbit the earth, so most of their satellites won’t be over Europe at any given time. I wouldn’t expect 264 satellites to be enough to focus on Europe when it takes 7000 to cover the whole planet. Maybe each satellite is much more powerful?
    - verzali 2y ago
      Put them higher up and you need less to achieve the same coverage.
      - bigfatkitten 2y ago
        A bit like Inmarsat BGAN, which already exists and starts at around $6 per megabyte with user terminals starting at around $5000.
metalman 2y ago
What an auspisious name, "Europe's Starlink Competitor" and WOW! they must have a mega secret super advantage to just go and give Elon a 20 year head start and all
hulitu 2y ago
> is go Is this English ? Shouldn't be "is gone" or "is going" ?
- peutetre 2y ago
  > Is this English ? Yes. > Shouldn't be "is gone" or "is going" ? No. It should be "is go" or "is a go".

12 points by peutetre 2y ago

m463 2y ago

I can't help but think that starlink was a change-in-the-seat-cushions byproduct of a rocket development company. And now the EU wants wants to compete with it using (some) public funds, even though it a different animal.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> starlink was a change-in-the-seat-cushions byproduct of a rocket development company What does this mean? SpaceX built a better truck. Communications satellites are what everyone puts on trucks. They’re more than happy to be everyone else’s truck; the EU and Kuiper will pay SpaceX to lift their birds.
- m463 2y ago
  I was saying that SpaceX's business is developing rockets for mars. Starlink was just something that might provide some ongoing revenue to defray the costs of rocket development. Spacex and Starlink are not really trying to turn a profit from each other. But the EU will be paying others to construct and launch satellites, and the equation is probably different. Imagine if the US government decided leo communications satellites were important, and it signed contracts with a satellite contractor and ULA to build and launch a similar number of satellites into orbit. I suspect it would be uneconomical and the communications service would not be competitive.
  - N19PEDL2 2y ago
    I think the motivation is mostly strategic: the EU does not want to be dependent on US satellites or undersea cables that can be sabotaged by the Russians for its communications.

Havoc 2y ago

Wouldn’t you need more cash for a full set of LEO sats?

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> Wouldn’t you need more cash for a full set of LEO sats? Not if you only aim to cover the EU’s population centres in round one.
- hedora 2y ago
  LEO satellites still need to orbit the earth, so most of their satellites won’t be over Europe at any given time. I wouldn’t expect 264 satellites to be enough to focus on Europe when it takes 7000 to cover the whole planet. Maybe each satellite is much more powerful?
  - verzali 2y ago
    Put them higher up and you need less to achieve the same coverage.
    - bigfatkitten 2y ago
      A bit like Inmarsat BGAN, which already exists and starts at around $6 per megabyte with user terminals starting at around $5000.

metalman 2y ago

What an auspisious name, "Europe's Starlink Competitor" and WOW! they must have a mega secret super advantage to just go and give Elon a 20 year head start and all

hulitu 2y ago

> is go Is this English ? Shouldn't be "is gone" or "is going" ?

peutetre 2y ago
> Is this English ? Yes. > Shouldn't be "is gone" or "is going" ? No. It should be "is go" or "is a go".