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Congratulations! An immensely important achievement, I’d say. IMO, this success has a great implication for accessibility and sovereignty of the EU. Although E

Congratulations! An immensely important achievement, I’d say. IMO, this success has a great implication for accessibility and sovereignty of the EU. Although ESA can launch from French Guiana, the spaceport is an ocean-away from Europe! That fact alone affects the cost and the launch cadence for Europe greatly. Now they prove they can launch directly from Norway with their own production from Munich and elsewhere and that has immense potential for the future: much higher launch cadence, significant lower cost and always-on accessibility. The only way Europe can have a Starlink similar network is to launch it from their own soil and reuse the first stage. Also from the perspective of security, launching spy and other military satellites from EU soil is the only practical possibility in this political climate.

aaron695 28d ago
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dakolli 28d ago
Dont worry the US will hoodwink Europe back into be a compliant vassal of the Empire in a few years when they elect a democrat who pretends to be liberal and acting in good faith, probably AOC(ia).
- 1294899 28d ago
  Why is this downvoted? This is exactly how US foreign policy works. The only difference with Trump is that he says things out loud. This is 100% what is going to happen. US foreign policy relies on deception and decade long plans. The big plans are ruling the Middle East and squash opposition (Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq done, Iran pending). To that end Russia had to be kept busy, therefore the Ukraine proxy war, which has the additional benefit of tying up the EU and cut it off from Russian natural resources. It makes the EU dependent on the US as an energy exporter. These plans are old and both parties have diligently executed them. Even with the Greenland annexation threats there are Democrats who think it wouldn't be a bad idea, but you should not say it out loud.
  - archole 28d ago
    Russia had to be kept busy, therefore Ukraine proxy war No one made Russia invade Ukraine, this is simply the centuries old russian imperialism against Ukraine. Also, Syria being in that list is silly. The Syrian opposition aren't vassals of the US. The US was never too keen to help them.
    - deleted 28d ago
      [deleted]
    - dakolli 28d ago
      your statements are wildly misinformed, you can't make claims about geopoltics because you've read a few delusional reddit threads. The US was extremely active in supporting the Syrian opposition, we literally funded the entire operation, like what reality are you living in. Your opinion on Russia/Ukraine is clearly skewed by NATO propaganda, which I wouldn't blame you for, most people have had their minds colonized by NATO propaganda, after all, NATO has a literal newsletter called "Cognitive Warfare" where they candidly brag about it. https://www.act.nato.int/activities/cognitive-warfare/ https://www.act.nato.int/activities/cognitive-warfare/
      - twoWhlsGud 27d ago
        /s Right, cause it's not like there's any Russian propaganda out there competing with it... /s
      - _djo_ 27d ago
        It doesn't matter how much you go on about 'NATO propaganda', the simple truth is that Russia invaded Ukraine, illegally and without reasonable cause, and did so for its own interests. What's more, Ukraine was nowhere near joining NATO, and in any case Russia's invasion would still have been illegal and reprehensible even if it was.
  - infamouscow 28d ago
    Most people assume the post-WW2 consensus is a permanent baseline. Historically, there's no evidence to support that expectation, but it's easy to see why the illusion persists. Acknowledging that the current order is temporary is terrifying, particularly for those who thrive under it.
walrus01 28d ago
> The only way Europe can have a Starlink similar network is to launch it from their own soil and reuse the first stage. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any properly funded euro alternative to starlink that that has progressed beyond the conceptual stage. Even the Canadian company telesat is far behind and has a serious debt problem. The two separate "Chinese starlink" LEO networks being built right now are ahead of telesat in functional satellites in orbit. The Canadian government recently promised 2.3 billion to telesat for polar area services. Realistically maybe some European nations might have the best chance of success by absorbing telesat and continuing to pay MDA to build the satellites for the network.
- luke5441 28d ago
  IRIS² looks on track? Granted, it is not a SpaceX competitor for consumer Internet. But it is an alternative for applications where reliance on SpaceX is not prudent.
  - walrus01 28d ago
    It exists but only in the conceptual / R&D and politics funding stage right now. I hope it succeeds but they're going to need significant amounts of money and real world launch capability to catch up with SpaceX and Amazon Leo in live satellites. The contract for development and design of the satellites was just awarded on August 31st, which is a positive sign.
torginus 28d ago
Europe has always had the Ariane family - it just wasn't really price-competitive and popular as of late.
DemocracyFTW2 27d ago
> Europe can have a Starlink similar network Please don't, this is madness.

aaron695 28d ago

[dead]

dakolli 28d ago

Dont worry the US will hoodwink Europe back into be a compliant vassal of the Empire in a few years when they elect a democrat who pretends to be liberal and acting in good faith, probably AOC(ia).

1294899 28d ago
Why is this downvoted? This is exactly how US foreign policy works. The only difference with Trump is that he says things out loud. This is 100% what is going to happen. US foreign policy relies on deception and decade long plans. The big plans are ruling the Middle East and squash opposition (Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq done, Iran pending). To that end Russia had to be kept busy, therefore the Ukraine proxy war, which has the additional benefit of tying up the EU and cut it off from Russian natural resources. It makes the EU dependent on the US as an energy exporter. These plans are old and both parties have diligently executed them. Even with the Greenland annexation threats there are Democrats who think it wouldn't be a bad idea, but you should not say it out loud.
- archole 28d ago
  Russia had to be kept busy, therefore Ukraine proxy war No one made Russia invade Ukraine, this is simply the centuries old russian imperialism against Ukraine. Also, Syria being in that list is silly. The Syrian opposition aren't vassals of the US. The US was never too keen to help them.
  - deleted 28d ago
    [deleted]
  - dakolli 28d ago
    your statements are wildly misinformed, you can't make claims about geopoltics because you've read a few delusional reddit threads. The US was extremely active in supporting the Syrian opposition, we literally funded the entire operation, like what reality are you living in. Your opinion on Russia/Ukraine is clearly skewed by NATO propaganda, which I wouldn't blame you for, most people have had their minds colonized by NATO propaganda, after all, NATO has a literal newsletter called "Cognitive Warfare" where they candidly brag about it. https://www.act.nato.int/activities/cognitive-warfare/ https://www.act.nato.int/activities/cognitive-warfare/
    - twoWhlsGud 27d ago
      /s Right, cause it's not like there's any Russian propaganda out there competing with it... /s
    - _djo_ 27d ago
      It doesn't matter how much you go on about 'NATO propaganda', the simple truth is that Russia invaded Ukraine, illegally and without reasonable cause, and did so for its own interests. What's more, Ukraine was nowhere near joining NATO, and in any case Russia's invasion would still have been illegal and reprehensible even if it was.
- infamouscow 28d ago
  Most people assume the post-WW2 consensus is a permanent baseline. Historically, there's no evidence to support that expectation, but it's easy to see why the illusion persists. Acknowledging that the current order is temporary is terrifying, particularly for those who thrive under it.

walrus01 28d ago

> The only way Europe can have a Starlink similar network is to launch it from their own soil and reuse the first stage. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any properly funded euro alternative to starlink that that has progressed beyond the conceptual stage. Even the Canadian company telesat is far behind and has a serious debt problem. The two separate "Chinese starlink" LEO networks being built right now are ahead of telesat in functional satellites in orbit. The Canadian government recently promised 2.3 billion to telesat for polar area services. Realistically maybe some European nations might have the best chance of success by absorbing telesat and continuing to pay MDA to build the satellites for the network.

luke5441 28d ago
IRIS² looks on track? Granted, it is not a SpaceX competitor for consumer Internet. But it is an alternative for applications where reliance on SpaceX is not prudent.
- walrus01 28d ago
  It exists but only in the conceptual / R&D and politics funding stage right now. I hope it succeeds but they're going to need significant amounts of money and real world launch capability to catch up with SpaceX and Amazon Leo in live satellites. The contract for development and design of the satellites was just awarded on August 31st, which is a positive sign.

torginus 28d ago

Europe has always had the Ariane family - it just wasn't really price-competitive and popular as of late.

DemocracyFTW2 27d ago

> Europe can have a Starlink similar network Please don't, this is madness.