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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
by 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 agoI 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 agoI 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.